Although human research on sperm cells has become increasingly perfect, it is surprising that scientists have recently discovered a previously unknown structure in these small swimmers.
Even more surprising, the researchers say, is that the newly discovered structure could lead to infertility, abortion and birth defects.
Scientists need to know more about this structure in order to develop new treatments to treat male infertility and to grasp the early stages of human embryo development.
The scientists' new discovery is a barrel-shaped structure of short microtubules, with a total of two centrosomes per sperm cell. However, the newly discovered centroparticle structure is slightly different from that previously known, and its shape is atypical.
Tomer Avidor-Reiss, a professor at the (University Of Toledo) Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Toledo, Ohio, said in a statement: "this study is significant because of the formation and dysfunction of atypical centroids," said Tomer Avidor-Reiss, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Toledo, Ohio, in a statement. It may be the unknown cause of infertility, or it may be the cause of embryo loss and developmental defects in the early stages of pregnancy. "
The researchers point out that these centrosomes play a crucial role in maintaining the shape and structure of the cells and completing the precise division of the cells.
By understanding the early state of the centroids, scientists may be able to determine whether these structures are associated with multiple types of infertility or embryonic development problems in men.
"since the mother's egg does not have a centroid and the father's sperm has only one recognizable centromere, we want to know where the second concentric in the fertilized egg came from," Avigdor Rice said. We used cutting-edge techniques and microscopes to find previously neglected hard-to-capture centroids. It is completely different in structure and protein composition from the known centromere. "
However, more than one structure has been found in human spermatozoa in recent years. Earlier this year, researchers announced that a mysterious spiral had also been found at the tail of human sperm, which could be stimulated while swimming.
