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Reproductive biology

Progesterone's gateway into sperm

Nature volume 471, pages 313–314 (2011)Cite this article

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The hormone progesterone rapidly activates intracellular signalling in human sperm, regulating key aspects of their physiology. An ion channel unique to the sperm tail seems to relay progesterone's signal. See Letters p.382 & p.387 See Clarification  p.598

The ovarian hormone progesterone classically binds to a nuclear receptor, initiating gene transcription. But how does it stimulate the transcriptionally inactive human spermatozoon in preparation for fertilization? This question has long both fascinated and frustrated reproductive biologists. In this issue, Strünker and colleagues1 and Lishko et al.2 provide an unexpected answer: progesterone activates a sperm-specific calcium ion (Ca2+) channel called CatSper.

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Figure 1: CatSper and calcium-ion influx.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Steve Publicover is in the School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK.,

    Steve Publicover

  2. Christopher Barratt is in the School of Medicine, University of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee DD1 9SY, UK.,

    Christopher Barratt

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  1. Steve Publicover
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  2. Christopher Barratt
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Correspondence to Steve Publicover or Christopher Barratt.

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Publicover, S., Barratt, C. Progesterone's gateway into sperm. Nature 471, 313–314 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/471313a

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