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Updated: Jun 28, 2025

Medium-throughput Screening Assays for Assessment of Effects on Ca2+-Signaling and Acrosome Reaction in Human Sperm
Published on: March 1, 2019
Environmental pollutants and male infertility: Effects on CatSper
Yuxin He1, Binhui Wang2, Jian Huang3
1Nanchang University Queen Mary School, Jiangxi Medical College of Nanchang University, Nanchang 330031, China.
Abstract:
Infertility is a growing health concern among many couples worldwide. Men account for half of infertility cases. CatSper, a sperm-specific Ca2+ channel, is expressed on the cell membrane of mammalian sperm. CatSper plays an important role in male fertility because it facilitates the entry of Ca2+ necessary for the rapid change in sperm motility, thereby allowing it to navigate the hurdles of the female reproductive tract and successfully locate the egg. Many pollutants present in the environment have been shown to affect the functions of CatSper and sperm, which is a matter of capital importance to understanding and solving male infertility issues. Environmental pollutants can act as partial agonists or inhibitors of CatSper or exhibit a synergistic effect. In this article, we briefly describe the structure, functions, and regulatory mechanisms of CatSper, and discuss the body of literature covering the effects of environmental pollutants on CatSper.
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