Abstract
RABBIT spermatozoa must be exposed to the environment of the female tract for several hours before acquiring the capacity to fertilize ova1,2. This phenomenon was termed capacitation1, and appears to be a general requirement for fertilization in several species3,4. Chang4 later discovered that spermatozoa capacitated in utero could be decapacitated by brief incubation in seminal plasma. Decapacitation appeared to be due to a definite substance in seminal plasma5.
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References
Austin, C. R., Austral. J. Sci. Res., 4, 581 (1951).
Chang, M. C., Nature, 168, 697 (1951).
Chang, M. C., Recent Progress in the Endocrinology of Reproduction, edit. by Lloyd, C. W., 170 (Academic Press, London, 1959).
Chang, M. C., Nature, 179, 258 (1957).
Bedford, J. M., and Chang, M. C., Amer. J. Physiol., 202, 179 (1962).
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WEINMAN, D., WILLIAMS, W. Mechanism of Capacitation of Rabbit Spermatozoa. Nature 203, 423–424 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1038/203423a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/203423a0
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