Molecular interplay between sperm and oocyte: a narrative review - PubMed
4 hours ago
- #human infertility
- #sperm-oocyte interaction
- #fertilization
- Fertilization involves coordinated events: sperm must pass through cumulus cells, penetrate the zona pellucida (ZP), and fuse with the oocyte plasma membrane, followed by blocks to prevent polyspermy.
- Current mechanistic understanding largely comes from animal studies, highlighting processes like hyaluronidase-mediated cumulus dispersal, acrosomal protein translocation, and ZP cleavage, but human applicability needs validation due to ethical and technical constraints.
- Interdisciplinary approaches, such as humanized models, artificial oocytes, and high-throughput screening, are emerging to study human gamete interactions, aiding infertility diagnosis, treatment, and contraceptive development.