After leaving the testis, spermatozoa have not yet acquired the ability to move progressively
and are unable to fertilize oocytes. To become fertilization competent, they must go through …

BACKGROUND Spermatozoa acquire their motility and fertilizing abilities during their
maturation through the epididymis. This process is controlled by epididymal epithelial cells …

The majority of circular RNAs (circRNAs) spliced from coding genes contain open reading
frames (ORFs) and thus, have protein coding potential. However, it remains unknown what …

Mammalian oviducts play an essential role in female fertility by picking up ovulated oocytes
and transporting and nurturing gametes (sperm/oocytes) and early embryos. However, the …

“Pinhead sperm,” or “acephalic sperm,” a type of human teratozoospermia, refers to the
condition in which ejaculate contains mostly sperm flagella without heads. Family clustering …

Mammalian sperm are carriers of not only the paternal genome, but also the paternal
epigenome in the forms of DNA methylation, retained histones and noncoding RNAs …

Cilia are cell-surface, microtubule-based organelles that project into extracellular space.
Motile cilia are conserved throughout eukaryotes, and their beat induces the flow of fluid …

Spermatozoa acquire fertilization potential during passage through a highly specialized
region of the extratesticular ductal system known as the epididymis. In the absence of de …

The cytoplasmic droplet is a conserved dilated area of cytoplasm situated at the neck of the
sperm flagellum. Viewed as residual cytoplasm inherited from late spermatids, the …

Reports that mouse sperm gain small RNAs from the epididymosomes secreted by
epididymal epithelial cells and that these" foreign" small RNAs act as an epigenetic …