Letter abstract
Nature Cell Biology 5, 902 - 906 (2003)
Published online: 28 September 2003 | doi:10.1038/ncb1047
Involvement of CFTR in uterine bicarbonate secretion and the fertilizing capacity of sperm
Xiao Fei Wang1,3, Chen Xi Zhou1,3, Qi Xian Shi2, Yu Ying Yuan2, Mei Kuen Yu1, Louis Chukwuemeka Ajonuma1, Lok Sze Ho1, Pui Shan Lo1, Lai Ling Tsang1, Yu Liu1, Sun Yi Lam1, Ling Nga Chan1, Wen Chao Zhao1, Yiu Wa Chung1 & Hsiao Chang Chan1
Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is a cAMP-activated chloride channel expressed in a wide variety of epithelial cells, mutations of which are responsible for the hallmark defective chloride secretion observed in cystic fibrosis (CF). Although CFTR has been implicated in bicarbonate secretion, its ability to directly mediate bicarbonate secretion of any physiological significance has not been shown. We demonstrate here that endometrial epithelial cells possess a CFTR-mediated bicarbonate transport mechanism. Co-culture of sperm with endometrial cells treated with antisense oligonucleotide against CFTR, or with bicarbonate secretion-defective CF epithelial cells, resulted in lower sperm capacitation and egg-fertilizing ability. These results are consistent with a critical role of CFTR in controlling uterine bicarbonate secretion and the fertilizing capacity of sperm, providing a link between defective CFTR and lower female fertility in CF.
- Epithelial Cell Biology Research Center, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China.
- Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences, Hangzhou, 310013, China.
- These authors contributed equally to this work.
Correspondence to: Hsiao Chang Chan1 e-mail: hsiaocchan@cuhk.edu.hk
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