Role of cholesterol in sperm capacitation

Abstract

There is now substantial evidence that the cholesterol content of mammalian sperm affects the development of acrosomal responsiveness and fertilizing ability in vitro. There may be some species that do not fit this model, and this needs to be clarified. The major challenges in the near future are to better understand the mechanism of cholesterol action in susceptible species and to determine whether control of sperm function by cholesterol is important in vivo.