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Requirements for Glucose Beyond Sperm Capacitation During In Vitro Fertilization in the Mouse¹

Center for Research on Reproduction & Women's Health⁷ Division of Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility,⁸ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6142

In both the mouse and the human, it is a point of controversy whether glucose is necessary for in vitro fertilization. Some of this controversy has resulted from a failure to distinguish between requirements for glucose during sperm capacitation versus requirements during the multistage process of fertilization. Using the mouse as a model, we performed a series of experiments designed to identify specific processes that might require glucose. We observed a positive correlation between increasing glucose concentrations during capacitation and fertilization, and increasing fertilization of zona pellucida (ZP)-intact eggs. These data supported a requirement for glucose in the fertilization medium even when sperm were first capacitated in the presence of 5.5 mM glucose. This glucose requirement was observed for both ZP-intact and ZP-free eggs. During ZP-free in vitro fertilization, some binding and fusion between the plasma membrane of the sperm and egg occurred in the absence of glucose and at concentrations less than 1 mM, suggesting that this substrate is not absolutely required. However, glucose concentrations of 1 mM or higher greatly facilitated both binding and fusion under these conditions. These subtle distinctions suggest that during ZP-free in vitro fertilization, 1 mM glucose represents a threshold level that facilitates binding and fusion. Taken as a whole, the data suggest requirements for glucose during both capacitation and fertilization under normal physiologic conditions.

¹ Supported by NIH grants P01 HD06274 to C.J.W., G.S.K., and Stuart B. Moss and KO1 RR00188 to A.J.T. and by a CONRAD/Mellon Reproductive Biology Centers Program grant to C.J.W.

² Correspondence: Carmen J. Williams, Center for Research on Reproduction & Women's Health, 1313 BRB II/III, 421 Curie Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19104-6142. FAX: 215 573 7627; cjwill{at}mail.med.upenn.edu

³ Current address: The James A. Baker Institute for Animal Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

⁴ Current address: GATA Haydarpasa Egitim Hastanesi, Kadin Hastaliklari Ve Dogum Klinigi, 81327 Kadikoy-Istanbul, Turkey

⁵ Current address: Program in Developmental Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX

⁶ Current address: Women's Health Research Institute, Wyeth Research, Collegeville, PA

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