Hyaluronidase in human semen and sperm suspensions subjected to temperature shock and to freezing.

Abstract

The enzyme hyaluronidase is believed to permit spermatozoa to disperse or to penetrate the cumulus oophorus (Kurzrok, Leonard & Conrad, 1946; Swyer, 1947a; Austin, 1948). The mechanism by which hyaluronidase mediates fertilization may not be the same in all species; Swyer (1947b) has discussed the release of enzyme by spermatozoa as a function of cell concentration, and of hyaluronidase concentration in the suspending medium. He noted that spermatozoa appear to be diffusing preformed hyaluronidase, and not to produce the enzyme. This was also the finding of Bergenstal & Scott (1948). It is well established for several species including man (Bergenstal & Scott, 1948) that hyaluronidase is a product of the seminiferous epithelium (Swyer, 1947b), and associated with spermatozoa, not with the accessory reproductive organs. In particular, the cellular enzyme was shown to occur in the sperm heads (Masaki & Hartree, 1962), and further investigation by Stambaugh & Buckley (1969) has shown that hyaluronidase is localized in the acrosome. Recent work has established that a tubal factor operates during fertilization