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    A sperm ion channel required for sperm motility and male fertility

    DEJIAN REN, BETSY NAVARRO, GLORIA PEREZ, ALEXANDER C. JACKSON, SHYUEFANG HSU, QING SHI, JONATHAN L. TILLY & DAVID E. CLAPHAM

    The Nature, October 2001, 413: 603 - 609.

    An amino-acid sequence of putative sperm cation channel (CatSper) resembles a single, six-transmembrane-spanning repeat of the voltage-dependent Ca2+-channel four-repeat structure. CatSper is located specifically in the principal piece of the sperm tail. Targeted disruption of the gene results in male sterility in otherwise normal mice. Sperm motility is decreased markedly in CatSper-/- mice, and CatSper-/- sperm are unable to fertilize intact eggs. In addition, the cyclic-AMP-induced Ca2+ influx is abolished in the sperm of mutant mice. CatSper is thus vital to cAMP-mediated Ca2+ influx in sperm, sperm motility and fertilization.