Glycolysis plays a major role for adenosine triphosphate supplementation in mouse sperm flagellar movement.

The mammalian sperm must be highly motile for a long time to fertilize a egg. It has been supposed that ATP required for sperm flagellar movement depends predominantly on mitochondrial respiration. We assessed the contribution of mitochondrial respiration to mouse sperm motility. Mouse sperm maintained vigorous motility with high beat frequency in an appropriate solution including a substrate such as glucose. The active sperm contained a large amount of ATP. When carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP) was applied to suppress the oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria, the vigorous motility was maintained and the amount of ATP was kept at the equivalent level to that without CCCP. When pyruvate or lactate was provided instead of glucose, both sperm motility and the amount of ATP were high. However, they were drastically decreased when oxidative phosphorylation was suppressed by addition of CCCP. We also found that sperm motility could not be maintained in the presence of respiratory substrates when glycolysis was suppressed. 2-Deoxy-d-glucose (DOG) had no effect on mitochondrial respiration assessed by a fluorescent probe, 5,5',6,6'-tetrachloro-1,1',3,3'-tetraethylbenzimidazolylcarbocyanine iodide (JC-1), but, it inhibited motility and decreased ATP content when pyruvate or lactate were provided as substrates. The present results suggest that glycolysis has an unexpectedly important role in providing the ATP required for sperm motility throughout the length of the sperm flagellum.

Hyperactivated motility is coupled with interdependent modifications at axonemal and cytosolic levels in human spermatozoa.

Whether the motility characteristics of hyperactivated spermatozoa were determined by stable changes at the axonemal level and whether the presence of cytosolic factors was required for the expression of these changes was investigated. Different degrees of sperm hyperactivation were produced in Percoll-washed spermatozoa after incubation for 1 hour to 3 hours at 37 degrees C in Ham's F-10 supplemented with human blood plasma or fetal cord serum. Decomplemented fetal cord serum induced the highest percentage of hyperactivation (19 +/- 3%), followed by human plasma (13 +/- 2%). Fetal cord serum that was not decomplemented did not induce a level of hyperactivation (1.7 +/- 0.2%) significantly different from control levels (0.9 +/- 0.2%). Dialyzed fetal cord serum induced intermediate levels of hyperactivation (6 +/- 1%). The motility characteristics of demembranated sperm models of hyperactivated spermatozoa induced by decomplemented fetal cord serum and nonhyperactivated spermatozoa were compared by videomicroscopy and computer-assisted digital image analysis. After demembranation with Triton X-100 and reactivation of motility by Mg. adenosine triphosphate (Mg.ATP), hyperactivated and nonhyperactivated spermatozoa showed similar motility characteristics. However, hyperactivated spermatozoa that were demembranated and reactivated in cytosolic extracts from hyperactivated spermatozoa had significantly higher (P less than 0.05) linear velocity (33 +/- 4 mu/sec) and lower linearity (0.23 +/- 0.04) than control spermatozoa that were demembranated and reactivated in control cytosolic extracts (velocity = 24 +/- 1 mu/sec; linearity = 0.32 +/- 0.02). The data suggest that the expression of hyperactivated motility requires interdependent changes at the axonemal and cytosolic levels.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Relationship of endogenous ATP to flagellar beat frequency in ejaculated bull spermatozoa.

The relationship between endogenous ATP and flagellar beat frequency of bull spermatozoa was investigated using cinematographic and biochemical criteria. ATP content was measured by the luciferin-luciferase method. Potassium, sodium, chloride, and viscosity were used to alter motility to establish the concomitant effects on ATP content. Beat frequency was correlated to endogenous ATP in potassium-supplemented media. Increased sodium concentration was related to ATP content, but not to beat frequency. With increasing viscosity of the medium, the frequency of flagellary beat decreased dramatically, while ATP content of the cells remained unchanged.