Investigation of the mechanisms by which the molecular
chaperone HSPA2 regulates the expression of sperm surface receptors
involved in human sperm–oocyte recognition, Mol. Hum. Reprod.
(2013) 19(3): 120-135 doi:10.1093/molehr/gas064 by Kate A. Redgrove,
Amanda L. Anderson, Eileen A. McLaughlin, Moira K. O'Bryan, R. John
Aitken and Brett Nixon
Remarkably, despite decades of research, the molecular details of how
a human sperm interacts with an egg remains somewhat of a mystery. Now
a paper published in Molecular Human Reproduction by Redgrove and
colleagues from Australia provides a unique insight into this
fundamental interaction. The human sperm, during its expression of
fertilising capacity (a feature termed capacitation) exposes a series of
proteins that allow the exposure on the head of the sperm of a key
complex including arylsulfatase A which may be important for sperm zona
interaction. This work emphasis the dynamic nature of the sperm
plasmamebrane and identifies potential functions of multimeric protein
complexes in the spermatozoon.