Infertility, defined by the inability of conceiving a child after 1 year is estimated to concern
approximately 50 million couples worldwide. As the male gamete is readily accessible and …

The capacity of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) to permit almost any type of
spermatozoa to fertilize oocytes has made it the most successful treatment for male factor …

In mammals, sperm–oocyte fusion initiates Ca2+ oscillations leading to a series of events
called oocyte activation, which is the first stage of embryo development. Ca2+ signaling is …

Activation of the egg by the sperm is the first, vital stage of embryogenesis. The sperm
protein PLCζ has been proposed as the physiological agent that triggers the Ca2+ …

BACKGROUND Infertility affects between 10 and 16% of couples worldwide. Twenty to 30%
of cases of infertility are due to a male factor, 20–35% to a female factor, and 25–40% are …

Since the establishment of in vitro fertilization, it became evident that almost half of the
couples failed to achieve fertilization and this phenomenon was attributed to a male gamete …

In mammals, the sperm activates the development of the egg by triggering a series of
oscillations in the cytosolic-free Ca 2+ concentration (Ca 2+ i). The sperm triggers these …

Sperm-specific phospholipase C zeta (PLCζ) is widely considered to be the physiological
stimulus responsible for generating calcium (Ca2+) oscillations that induce egg activation …

Mammalian zygotic development is initiated by sperm‐mediated intracellular calcium
oscillations, followed by activation of metaphase II‐arrested oocytes. Sperm postacrosomal …

The fertilizing spermatozoon is a highly specialized cell that selects from millions along the
female tract until the oocyte. The paternal components influence the oocyte activation during …