Surface sugars redistribution in human spermatozoa during capacitation

The glycoconjugates on the spermatozoa’s surface are reorganized considerably during capacitation, preparing for the interaction with the zona pellucida and the oolemma of the oocyte. However, due to the high heterogeneity of the human spermatozoa glycocalyx, sugar patterns and their reorganization during capacitation remain poorly defined. Here, we have characterized the detailed reorganization patterns and the heterogeneity of the sugars recognized by the Aleuria aurantia agglutinin (AAA), Concanavalin A (ConA), Peanunt agglutinin (PNA), and Wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) lectins after one and four hours of capacitation in the human spermatozoa glycocalyx. Please refer to pages 447–453 for details.