The Known and Unknown About Female Reproductive Tract Mucus Rheological Properties.

IF 3.2 3区生物学 Q2 BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

BioEssays Pub Date : 2025-03-22 DOI:10.1002/bies.70002

Luke Achinger, Derek F Kluczynski, Abigail Gladwell, Holly Heck, Faith Zhang, Ethan Good, Alexis Waggoner, Mykala Reinhart, Megan Good, Dawson Moore, Dennis Filatoff, Supriya Dhar, Elisa Nigro, Lucas Flanagan, Sunny Yadav, Trinity Williams, Aniruddha Ray, Tariq A Shah, Matthew W Liberatore, Tomer Avidor-Reiss

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Abstract

Spermatozoa reach the fallopian tube during ovulation by traveling through the female reproductive tract mucus. This non-Newtonian viscoelastic medium facilitates spermatozoon movement to accomplish fertilization or, in some cases, blocks spermatozoon movement, leading to infertility. While rheological properties are known to affect spermatozoon motility with in vitro models using synthetic polymers, their precise effects in vivo are understudied. This paper reviews the rheological measurements of reproductive tract mucus during ovulation in humans and model animals, focusing on viscosity and its potential effect on spermatozoa. Mucus viscosity in the female reproductive tract's different compartments is poorly understood. While information on this subject is incomplete, most mammals appear to have a viscosity decrease along their female reproductive tracts. Based on this sparse information, we hypothesize that viscosity changes in female reproductive tracts may guide spermatozoa to eggs, a novel concept that could improve our understanding of reproductive biology.

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女性生殖道粘液流变学特性的已知与未知。

精子在排卵期通过雌性生殖道粘液到达输卵管。这种非牛顿粘弹性介质促进精子运动以完成受精，或者在某些情况下阻碍精子运动，导致不育。虽然已知流变性能在体外合成聚合物模型中影响精子运动，但其在体内的确切影响尚未得到充分研究。本文综述了人类和模型动物排卵期生殖道粘液的流变学测量，重点介绍了黏度及其对精子的潜在影响。女性生殖道内不同腔室的黏液粘度尚不清楚。虽然关于这个问题的信息是不完整的，但大多数哺乳动物在雌性生殖道的黏度似乎都有所下降。基于这些稀疏的信息，我们假设女性生殖道粘度的变化可能引导精子进入卵子，这是一个新的概念，可以提高我们对生殖生物学的理解。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

BioEssays 生物-生化与分子生物学

CiteScore

7.30

自引率

2.50%

发文量

167

审稿时长

4-8 weeks

期刊介绍： molecular – cellular – biomedical – physiology – translational research – systems - hypotheses encouraged BioEssays is a peer-reviewed, review-and-discussion journal. Our aims are to publish novel insights, forward-looking reviews and commentaries in contemporary biology with a molecular, genetic, cellular, or physiological dimension, and serve as a discussion forum for new ideas in these areas. An additional goal is to encourage transdisciplinarity and integrative biology in the context of organismal studies, systems approaches, through to ecosystems, where appropriate.