PET PET
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
Become a Friend Donate
  • About Us
    • People
    • Press Office
    • Our History
  • Get Involved
    • Become a Friend of PET
    • Volunteer
    • Campaigns
    • Writing Scheme
    • Partnership and Sponsorship
    • Advertise with Us
  • Donate
    • Become a Friend of PET
  • BioNews
    • News
    • Comment
    • Reviews
    • Elsewhere
    • Topics
    • Glossary
    • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Previous Events
  • Engagement
    • Policy and Projects
      • Resources
    • Education
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
    • People
    • Press Office
    • Our History
  • Get Involved
    • Become a Friend of PET
    • Volunteer
    • Campaigns
    • Writing Scheme
    • Partnership and Sponsorship
    • Advertise with Us
  • Donate
    • Become a Friend of PET
  • BioNews
    • News
    • Comment
    • Reviews
    • Elsewhere
    • Topics
    • Glossary
    • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Previous Events
  • Engagement
    • Policy and Projects
      • Resources
    • Education
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements
PETBioNewsNewsSperm use poison to disable competitors

BioNews

Sperm use poison to disable competitors

Published 5 February 2021 posted in News and appears in BioNews 1082

Author

Bernie Owusu-Yaw

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.

A genetic factor helps some sperm outcompete others to reach the egg cell first...

A genetic factor helps some sperm outcompete others to reach the egg cell first. 

Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin, Germany have discovered that the protein RAC1, which plays a role in the movement of cells, controls the motility and competitiveness of sperm cells in mice. 

'The competitiveness of individual sperm seems to depend on an optimal level of active RAC1; both reduced or excessive RAC1 activity interferes with effective forward movement,' said Dr Alexandra Amaral, first author of the study.

Classical Mendelian genetics predicts that sperm cells have an equal chance in the 'fertilisation race'; however, the t-haplotype is a genetic variant that breaks these rules of inheritance by increasing the fertilisation success rate of sperm cells that carry it. 

The results of the study, published in PLOS Genetics, show that sperm from mice carrying the t-haplotype variant swam faster and in straight lines directly towards the egg cell, whereas the movement of normal sperm cells without the variant was directionless and slow. 

The scientists discovered that the differences in motility were due to the levels of RAC1. RAC1 activity was elevated in sterile mice, where all the sperm cells carry the t-haplotype variant, while RAC1 levels were low in mice that only carry normal sperm cells. In mice that produce a mixture of normal and t-haplotype sperm cells they observed that some sperm cells showed progressive movement and others were less progressive. They reported that it was the normal sperm cells that made little progress. They then treated this mixed population of sperm cells with a compound that inhibits RAC1 activity and showed that this enabled the normal sperm cells to swim progressively. 

The team also found that the t-haplotype variant contains certain genetic factors called distorters that inhibit the progressive movement of sperm cells by interfering with the cell signalling molecules required for motility.

'Sperm with the t-haplotype manage to disable sperm without it. The trick is that the t‑haplotype 'poisons' all sperm, but at the same time produces an antidote, which acts only in t-sperm and protects them, ' said Professor Bernhard Herrmann, director of the Department of Developmental Genetics at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics and corresponding author of this study. 

The researchers suggest that abnormal RAC1 activity may underlie certain forms of infertility in men and they are planning to investigate the effect of RAC1 activity on the motility of human sperm. 

'Sperm immotility is a big deal in male infertility. Investigating the levels of this protein in human samples could help to develop treatments for infertility in men,' said Professor Herrmann.

Sources and References

  • 04/02/2021
    Max Planck Institute
    Some sperms poison their competitors
  • 04/02/2021
    PLOS Genetics
    RAC1 controls progressive movement and competitiveness of mammalian spermatozoa
  • 04/02/2021
    UPI
    Some sperm use poison to outrace their competitors

Related Articles

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
News
5 March 2021 • 1 minute read

Selfish genetic elements identified in sperm race

by Martha Roberts

Genes associated with a 'selfish' survival advantage in sperm have been identified, providing evidence of sperm-level natural selection...

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
News
12 February 2021 • 2 minutes read

Mail-in sperm testing as reliable as clinic tests

by Dr Eleanor Taylor

Semen samples can now be accurately analysed up to 52 hours after production using a new mail-in sperm testing kit...

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
News
7 August 2020 • 2 minutes read

How human sperm really swim

by Bernie Owusu-Yaw

Research using high-precision 3D microscopy has overturned 350-year-old observations about how sperm swim...

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
News
17 July 2020 • 2 minutes read

Human sperm cells grown in vitro as a potential step to treat male infertility

by Dr Maria Botcharova

Scientists have made progress towards a reliable technique for treating male infertility...

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
News
12 June 2020 • 2 minutes read

Human eggs use chemical attraction to 'choose' sperm

by Ebtehal Moussa

The fluid that surrounds an egg when it is released acts as a chemical attractant to sperm, but may also select sperm from certain males over others...

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

« Actor's ex-fiancé has frozen embryos case thrown out

Data-Label The UK's Leading Supplier Of Medical Labels & Asset Labels

RetiringDentist.co.uk The UK's Leading M&A Company.

Find out how you can advertise here
easyfundraising
amazon

This month in BioNews

  • Popular
  • Recent
8 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Placenta and organ formation observed in mouse embryo models

8 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Lower hormone doses may improve IVF egg quality

8 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Boosting muscle cell production of gene therapy proteins

1 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

First UK medical guidelines issued for trans fertility preservation

1 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Male age has more impact on IVF birth rate than previously thought

8 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Placenta and organ formation observed in mouse embryo models

8 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Complex structures of the human heart bioengineered

8 August 2022 • 1 minute read

Brain tumour gene also linked to childhood cancers

8 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Lower hormone doses may improve IVF egg quality

8 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Boosting muscle cell production of gene therapy proteins

Subscribe to BioNews and other PET updates for free.

Subscribe
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • RSS
Wellcome
Website redevelopment supported by Wellcome.

Website by Impact Media Impact Media

  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements

© 1992 - 2022 Progress Educational Trust. All rights reserved.

Limited company registered in England and Wales no 07405980 • Registered charity no 1139856

Subscribe to BioNews and other PET updates for free.

Subscribe
PET PET

PET is an independent charity that improves choices for people affected by infertility and genetic conditions.

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • RSS
Wellcome
Website redevelopment supported by Wellcome.

Navigation

  • About Us
  • Get Involved
  • Donate
  • BioNews
  • Events
  • Engagement
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us

BioNews

  • News
  • Comment
  • Reviews
  • Elsewhere
  • Topics
  • Glossary
  • Newsletters

Other

  • My Account
  • Subscribe

Website by Impact Media Impact Media

  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements

© 1992 - 2022 Progress Educational Trust. All rights reserved.

Limited company registered in England and Wales no 07405980 • Registered charity no 1139856