Roles of calcium ion channels and its clinical significance in sperm motility / 中华男科学杂志

ABSTRACT

As an important intracellular messenger, Ca2+ plays a major role in sperm motility. In spermatozoa, multiple Ca2(+)-permeable channels have been identified in the plasma membrane of mammalian sperm, including voltage-gated Ca2+ channels (Cav channels), cyclic nucleotide-gated channels (CNGC), cation channels of sperm (CatSper) and the transient receptor potential (TRP) family. As calcium regulation of sperm motility is mainly mediated by these calcium channels, any aberration of the channels can lead to the decline of sperm activities. Recent progress in the researches on the relationship between sperm motility and calcium-related ion channels is briefly reviewed in this article.