Editor's Summary
9 February 2006
Sperm ion flux pinned down
Ion channels have an important role in the key physiological functions of mammalian sperm, but despite attempts over the past 20 years to record ion currents from sperm directly, no success had been achieved. Now a simple, reproducible patch-clamp method of recording sperm cell ion currents has been developed, and it reveals that the principal alkaline-activated Ca2+-selective channel in mouse spermatozoa is an alkaline-activated channel in the flagellum, containing the sperm-specific protein CatSper1.
Letter: Whole-cell patch-clamp measurements of spermatozoa reveal an alkaline-activated Ca2+ channel
Yuriy Kirichok, Betsy Navarro and David E. Clapham
doi:10.1038/nature04417
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