Mammalian sperm navigation within the female reprodutive tract

POSTER

Abstract

For successful fertilization in mammals, sperm must navigate the dynamic female reproductive tract, reaching the site where an egg is released and then fusing with it. During this journey, sperm employs various navigational mechanisms guided by biophysical and biochemical cues present in the tract. In this presentation, I explore how fluid flow, physical boundaries, ambient rheology, and tract chemicals act as cues, and promote a wide range of swimming behaviors in bovine sperm. I further discuss our experimental findings alongside theoretical models to interpret how sperm's response to these cues facilitates its navigation in various functional regions of the tract.

Publication: 1. Zaferani, M., Cheong, S. H. & Abbaspourrad, A. Rheotaxis-based separation of sperm with progressive motility using a microfluidic corral system. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 115, 8272–8277 (2018).

2. Zaferani, M., Javi, F., Mokhtare, A., Li, P. & Abbaspourrad, A. Rolling controls sperm navigation in response to the dynamic rheological properties of the environment. Elife 10, e68693 (2021).

3. Zaferani, M., Palermo, G. D. & Abbaspourrad, A. Strictures of a microchannel impose fierce competition to select for highly motile sperm. Sci. Adv. 5, eaav2111 (2019).

4. Zaferani, M. & Abbaspourrad, A. Biphasic chemokinesis of mammalian sperm. Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 248401 (2023).

5. Zaferani, M., Suarez, S. S. & Abbaspourrad, A. Mammalian sperm hyperactivation regulates navigation via physical boundaries and promotes pseudo-chemotaxis. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 118, e2107500118 (2021).

Presenters

  • Meisam Zaferani

    Princeton University

Authors

  • Meisam Zaferani

    Princeton University