Gametes and fertilization in the Chinese hamster

Freshly ovulated eggs are each surrounded by a compact cumulus oophorus. The overall diameter of the normal egg (including the zona pellucida) is about 100 μm. Cumulus cells, particularly those near the egg, are arranged redially in a viscous noncellular matrix. The spermatozoon is about 250 μm in length. The head a large acrosome, changes in which can be readily examined with the light (phase- contrast) microsope. When exposed to physiological salt solutions, testicular spermatozoa either were motionless or flexed the posterior half of their tails slowly. Spermatozoa from the caput epididymis were highly motile, flexing the entire tail. A few of them moved progressively. Mature spermatozoa from the vas deferens were highly motile and moved either straightforward or in a circle. They vibrated their tails stiffly without flexing them. In normally mated females, fertilization began sometime between 2 and 3 h after ovulation and was completed within the next 4 to 5 h. Spermatozoa swimming in the ampullary fluid or within the cumulus oophorus about the time of fertilization flexed the anterior half (which roughly corresponds to the midpieac region) of their tails. This peculiar movement may be homologous to the so-called “hyperactivation” of spermatozoa as reported in several other mammalian species. Actively motile spermatozoa within the cumulus or no the zona pellucida had either modified (“collapsed”) or no acrosomal caps. The sperm head usually passed verticually or nearly through the zona, but the path was oblique in some instances. In 54% of the recently fertilized eggs examined, the entire length of the sperm tail was within the perivitelline space; in the other 46% of the eggs varying lenghts of the tail remined the perivitelline space, the tails were extruded from the vitellus of many eggs even before the eggs began their first cleavage. When unfertilized eggs in the cumulus oophorus were inseminated with vas deferens spermatozoa in a modified Tyrode's solution (m-TALP), about 80% of them were ferrtilized by 4–6 h after insemination. The vast majority were monospermic. When eggs were freed from the cumulus prior to insemination, none were fertilized, suggesting that the cumulus cells or their matrix assisted capacitation and/or the acrosome reaction of the spermatozoa under the in vitro conditions employed. No eggs were fertilized by the testicular or caput epididymal spermatozoa regardless of the presence or absence of cumulus oophorus around the eggs at the time of insemination.     

Motility of rat spermatozoa at the site of fertilization

This study was undertaken to examine the factors that may affect the numbers and motility patterns of spermatozoa at the site of fertilization. The contents of the oviductal ampullae of previously mated cycling or superovulated immature rats were examined microscopically. We determined whether spermatozoa were free or associated with cells and whether they exhibited hyperactivated motility, forward progressive motility, or were immotile. These data were correlated with the percentage of fertilized eggs. In addition, the beat pattern of hyperactivated spermatozoa was characterized by using high-speed video microscopy. At the time when half of the eggs were fertilized, ampullae of cycling rats contained an average of less than one motile spermatozoon per ampulla. Most of these motile spermatozoa were hyperactivated. About half of these were free in the ampulla and about half were in the cumulus or zona pellucida. Hyperactivated spermatozoa displayed a nonprogressive whiplash wave form with a high amplitude recovery stroke similar to that described in hamster and guinea pig spermatozoa capacitated in vitro. In addition to motile spermatozoa, we counted about three immotile spermatozoa for each motile spermatozoon. In superovulated, immature female rats, we found about ten times as many spermatozoa in each category as in cycling rats. From our observations, it is clear that very few spermatozoa reach the ampulla of the oviduct. Furthermore our observations suggest that in cycling rats progressively swimming spermatozoa may become hyperactivated shortly after entering the ampulla of the oviduct. They probably enter the cumulus mass within a short time or become immotile.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Spermatozoa of the shrew, Suncus murinus, undergo the acrosome reaction and then selectively kill cells in penetrating the cumulus oophorus

In the musk shrew, Suncus murinus (and other shrews), the cumulus oophorus is ovulated as a discrete, compact, matrix-free ball of cells linked by specialized junctions. In examining how they penetrate the cumulus, Suncus spermatozoa were observed to first bind consistently by the ventral face over the acrosomal region to the exposed smooth surface of a peripheral cumulus cell. This was apparently followed by point fusions between the plasma and outer acrosomal membranes. Thereafter, spermatozoa without acrosomes were observed within cumulus cells that displayed signs of necrosis, as did some radially neighboring cumulus cells linked by zona adherens and gap junctions. Eventually, penetration of spermatozoa as far as the perizonal space around the zona pellucida left linear tracks of locally necrotic cells flanked by normal cumulus cells. Based on these and previous observations, we conclude that the acrosome reaction in Suncus is always induced by cumulus cells, and that reacted spermatozoa penetrate the cumulus by selective invasion and killing of cumulus cells along a linear track. Loss of the acrosome also exposes an apical body/perforatorium that is covered with barbs that appear to assist reacted fertilizing spermatozoa in binding to the zona pellucida. Because fertilized eggs displayed no other spermatozoa within or bound to the zona, an efficient block to polyspermy must prevent such binding of additional spermatozoa.     

The status of acrosomal caps of hamster spermatozoa immediately before fertilization in vivo

Adult female golden hamsters were induced to superovulate. When they were mated several hours prior to ovulation or artificially inseminated about the time of ovulation, nearly 100% of their eggs were subsequently fertilized monospermically. During the progression of fertilization when the eggs were still surrounded by compact cumulus oophorus, the contents of the ampullary region of the oviducts were collected and spermatozoa moving in the ampullary fluid, within the cumulus and on/in the zonae pellucidae of unfertilized eggs, were examined by light and electron microscopy to evaluate the status of their acrosomal caps. Most spermatozoa swimming in the ampullary fluid had apparently intact acrosomal caps, while the vast majority moving within the cumulus had distinctly modified acrosomal caps. Most spermatozoa that had passed through the cumulus and reached the zona surfaces had remnants of their acrosomal caps (“acrosomal ghosts”). When the ghosts were present around the sperm heads on the zona, the heads pivoted about a point roughly corresponding to the places where the ghosts were located. The ghosts seemed to firmly attach to the zona surfaces, then were split open by the sperm heads and left behind as the sperm heads advanced into the zona. A few spermatozoa on the zona surfaces had no acrosomal ghosts (at least not detectable by light microscopy). In this case, the sperm head pivoted about either the inner acrosomal membrane or the equatorial segment of the acrosome. In no instance were spermatozoa with intact acrosomal caps found on zona surfaces. We infer from these observations that most spermatozoa in vivo initiate their acrosome reactions while they are advancing through the cumulus. When they arrive at the zona surfaces, acrosomal ghosts are generally present on the sperm heads. These ghosts appear to hold sperm heads to zona surfaces as well as to restrict the direction of advancement of sperm head through the zona. In a minority of cases, ghostless spermatozoa reach the zona surfaces. As these spermatozoa appear to be able to penetrate the zona successfully, structures other than the acrosomal ghost (ie, the inner acrosomal membrane and the plasma membrane over the equatorial segment of the acrosome) may also attach to zona surfaces before spermatozoa penetrate into the zona.     

Development of ability to penetrate the cumulus oophorus by hamster spermatozoa capacitated in vitro,in relation to the timing of the acrosome reaction

Hamster spermatozoa were tested for their ability to penetrate the intact cumulus matrix at low sperm:egg ratios (approximately 3:1). Uncapacitated spermatozoa attached to the surface of the cumulus and could not penetrate. Spermatozoa capacitated in vitro began to be able to penetrate after about 2 hr of preincubation, coincidentally with the first appearance of hyperactivation and spontaneous acrosome reactions. In all, 628 in vitro incubated spermatozoa were evaluated on and in cumuli: 270 could penetrate, but only ten of these were judged to have intact, “unmodified” acrosomes. Almost all spermatozoa capable of penetrating showed optically “modified” and swelling acrosomal caps, and this confirms previous observations on cumulus penetration in vivo. Penetration appeared limited to a phase in capacitation prior to completion of the acrosome reaction, as spermatozoa that had lost the acrosomal cap penetrated poorly and showed reduced viability. Penetration of the cumulus was inhibited by the hyaluronidase inhibitor sodium aurothiomalate. Cumulus penetrating ability could result either from a change in surface properties of the sperm at capacitation, which renders them less “sticky” to the matrix, or from release or activation of a “cumulus lysin.” We conclude that the ability to enter the cumulus matrix coincides with physiological changes in spermatozoa that occur during a terminal phase of capacitation preceding complete loss of the acrosomal cap, and that initiation of this process in vivo must precede sperm-zona contact.     

Epididymal storage at abdominal temperature reduces the time required for capacitation of hamster spermatozoa

The epididymis was reflected unilaterally or bilaterally to the abdomen in adult hamsters, leaving normally functioning testes in the scrotum. In unilateral cases, spermatozoa taken from the abdominal cauda, 1 month or more post-operatively, underwent a reversal of head agglutination and dispersed earlier, and underwent hyperactivation and fertilized cumulus-free eggs about 30-45 min sooner than did spermatozoa from the contralateral scrotal cauda. In addition, spermatozoa from the abdominal cauda began to undergo a spontaneous acrosome reaction 30-45 min earlier and to a greater extent than in control spermatozoa. Finally, in females mated at or soon after ovulation, spermatozoa ejaculated by bilaterally cryptepididymal males fertilized eggs 30-45 min before those from normal males. Other females mated to bilaterally cryptepididymal males gave birth to normal litters. The results are considered in terms of the possibility that temperature-sensitive sperm-binding macromolecules, which may be involved in sperm storage in the cauda epididymis, could be one determinant of the need for capacitation.     

RELATION BETWEEN THE ACROSOME REACTION AND FERTILIZATION IN THE SEA URCHIN. II. FERTILIZATION IN ACIDIFIED SEA WATER WITH EGG-WATER-TREATED SPERMATOZOA*

Fertilization of sea urchin eggs fails to occur at a pH lower than 6.5. Analytical studies on this problem were made with Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus, Anthocidaris crassispina and Pseudocentrotus depressus. If the spermatozoa have been pretreated with egg water, eggs can be fertilized even at pH 6.5 and 6.0. The acrosome reaction is inhibited at a pH lower than 6.5. Intact spermatozoa fail to adhere to the fixed eggs in acidified sea water, whereas egg-water-treated spermatozoa adhere even at pH 6.5 and 6.0. From these results we infer that the failure of fertilization at pH 6.5–6.0 is caused by non-occurrence of the acrosome reaction, and that fertilization reactions other than the acrosome reaction, such as the binding and fusion of the gametes, are not inhibited in this range of pH. At pH 5.5, the spermatozoa become inert and fertilization is inhibited or suppressed, even though egg-water-treated spermatozoa are employed.     

Cross fertilization between sea urchin eggs and oyster spermatozoa

Interphylum crossing was examined between sea urchin eggs (Temnopleurus hardwicki) and oyster sperm (Crassostrea gigas). The eggs could receive the spermatozoa with or without cortical change. The fertilized eggs that elevated the fertilization envelope began their embryogenesis. Electron microscopy revealed that oyster spermatozoa underwent acrosome reaction on the sea urchin vitelline coat, and their acrosomal membrane fused with the egg plasma membrane after the appearance of an intricate membranous structure in the boundary between the acrosomal process and the egg cytoplasm. Oyster spermatozoa penetrated sometimes into sea urchin eggs without stimulating cortical granule discharge and consequently without fertilization envelope formation. The organelles derived from oyster spermatozoa seemed to be functionally inactive in the eggs whose cortex remained unchanged.     

Effects of cumulus cells on sperm penetration of bovine oocytes in protein-free medium

The present study was conducted to examine the effects of cumulus cells on sperm capacitation, acrosome reaction and penetration of bovine oocytes in vitro in a protein-free medium. In vitro matured oocyte-cumulus complexes (OCCs) and denuded oocytes were co-incubated with spermatozoa in the medium with or without bovine serum albumin (BSA). Higher fertilization rates were obtained in the OCCs (92 and 89%, respectively) than denuded oocytes (57 and 6%, respectively) in the medium with or without BSA (P<0.01). Higher proportion of the denuded oocytes were fertilized in the medium with BSA (57%) than without BSA (6%; P<0.01). These results suggest that the cumulus cells are more effective for increasing fertilization rate than BSA (P<0.05). Both the percentages of capacitated and acrosome-reacted spermatozoa incubated for 4 h with isolated cumulus cells were not significantly different in the medium without cumulus cells in the presence or absence of BSA. The denuded oocytes were inseminated with isolated cumulus cells taken from OCCs matured with or without hormones, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and estradiol-17beta (E(2)), and from immature OCCs in a protein-free medium. Presence of the cumulus cells matured with hormones enhanced sperm penetration of denuded oocytes more effectively (81%) than either of the cells matured without hormones (41%) or the immature cells (26%; P<0.01). The conditioned medium of cumulus cells matured with hormones was not effective for sperm penetration of denuded oocytes (2%), while a high proportion (82%) of the oocytes were fertilized when they were inseminated with isolated cumulus cells (P<0.01). In conclusion, the presence of cumulus cells matured with FSH and E(2) was effective for sperm penetration but not for sperm capacitation or acrosome reaction.     

Hyperactivated motility patterns of ram spermatozoa recovered from the oviducts of mated ewes

The contents of the oviducts of ewes were recovered by flushing with small volumes of culture medium, 22½–24¼ hr after mating. The ampulla was flushed separately from the uterotubal junction and isthmus. Among the motile spermatozoa recovered, a proportion exhibited “hyperactivated” motility, also known as “activated”, or “whiplash” motility. This was characterized by increased flexion of the neck, increased amplitude of the flagellar waves, and marked asymmetry of beat. Two types of hyperactivation appeared: in the first, spermatozoa swam in a repetitive, nonprogressive circling pattern and appeared to have intact acrosome caps; in the second, the spermatozoa showed a propensity to stick to glass by the equatorial segment and most had modified or missing acrosome caps. The proportions of motile spermatozoa exhibiting hyperactivation were greatest in the ampullae, as were the proportions with modified or absent acrosomes. Hyperactivation is a capacitation-associated phenomenon that has now been reported for one or more species from seven orders of eutherian mammals. It may well be a universal aspect of the prefertilization behavior of mammalian spermatozoa and is probably of advantage to the fertilizing spermatozoon within the oviduct.     

RELATION BETWEEN THE ACROSOME REACTION AND FERTILIZATION IN THE SEA URCHIN. I. FERTILIZATION IN Ca-FREE SEA WATER WITH EGG-WATER-TREATED SPERMATOZOA. *

When spermatozoa are treated with egg-water and undergo the acrosome reaction, their fertilizing capacity is lost within 5 min. However, if insemination is carried out within 4 min after the egg-water treatment, there is no difference in fertilizing capacity between spermatozoa treated with egg-water and non-treated ones. With such spermatozoa, eggs can be fertilized even in the virtual absence of calcium, whereas with spermatozoa treated with Ca-free egg-water, no fertilization occurs under the same conditions. It is postulated that in normal fertilization the acrosome reaction has occurred before the attachment of the gametes. The failure of fertilization with normal spermatozoa in Ca-free sea water may be due to the failure of occurrence of the acrosome reaction.     

The oocyte of a new world marsupial, Monodelphis domestica: structure, formation, and function of the enveloping mucoid layer

Ovulated oocytes of the gray short-tailed opossum Monodelphis domestica are surrounded by a thin zona pellucida and are devoid of a cumulus oophorus. In the ampulla of the oviduct, oocytes acquire a thick mucoid layer composed of concentrically arranged fibrillar material. Exocytosis by the secretory cells of the oviductal epithelium occurs in the region of the oviduct adjacent to the egg. This suggests that the oocyte-zona-mucus layer complex may influence the oviductal epithelium to secrete. During secretion, fibrillar contents of the secretion granules appear to be transformed into membranous material which presumably becomes fibrillar again as it is incorporated into the forming mucoid layer. Spermatozoa (which are known to pair in the cauda epididymis) are found in pairs and with intact acrosomes in the mucoid layer of fertilized eggs. This suggests that spermatozoa of Mondelphis remain paired until they reach the zona pellucida and that the acrosome functions in zona binding and/or penetration.     

Attachment and release of spermatozoa from the caudal isthmus of the hamster oviduct

Female hamsters were mated shortly after the onset of oestrus. At 3 or 6 h after mating, the right oviduct was flushed in situ with 30, 90 or 180 microliters medium to remove spermatozoa from the lumen, leaving only those firmly attached to the isthmic mucosa of the oviduct. When eggs were recovered from oviducts at 20 h after flushing the majority were fertilized, indicating that the spermatozoa that were firmly attached to the mucosa were capable of detaching and ascending to the ampulla to fertilize eggs. Neither the time of flushing nor the volume of flushing medium had a significant effect on the percentage of spermatozoa that remained in the isthmus after flushing. These results suggest that there is no change in the surface of the oviduct mucosa that causes the release of spermatozoa from the caudal isthmus near the time of ovulation. When incapacitated spermatozoa were introduced into the oviduct, many of them attached to oviductal mucosa, while capacitated spermatozoa did not. This indicates that it is a change in the sperm surface, rather than the mucosal surface, that causes the release of spermatozoa, i.e. spermatozoa remain attached to the isthmic mucosa until they become capacitated and then detach and migrate to the ampulla to fertilize the eggs.     

A study of factors affecting the success of human fertilization in vitro. II. Influence of semen quality and oocyte maturity on fertilization and cleavage

The incidence of in vitro fertilization was analyzed with respect to the degree of cumulus dissociation (expansion) at the time of oocyte recovery and also the semen quality. Of the oocytes surrounded by perfectly ("++") or moderately ("+") dissociated cumuli, 78.6% and 30.8%, respectively (P less than 0.001), were fertilized when the husband's semen analysis was in the normal range. The proportion of fertilized oocytes was not decreased in cases of polyzoospermia (greater than 130 X 10(6) spermatozoa/ml), but was decreased (P less than 0.05) when the semen analysis revealed other anomalies: oligozoospermia (less than 15 X 10(6) spermatozoa/ml), asthenozoospermia (less than 50% motile cells) or teratozoospermia (greater than 50% abnormal spermatozoa). The proportion of fertilized eggs cleaving in vitro was unaffected by semen quality but was lower when "+" cumulus oocytes were collected than when "++" cumulus oocytes were obtained (58.3% vs. 87.0%, P less than 0.02). In vitro incubation of the oocyte prior to insemination increased the incidence of fertilization by about 28% for both "+" (22.2 to 50.0%) and "++" (65.7 to 93.9%) cumulus oocytes. Finally, 67.6% of "++" cumulus oocytes developed into embryos when the insemination with spermatozoa from normal semen samples was delayed by several hours, compared with only 29.0% when the conditions were suboptimal ("+" cumulus oocyte, abnormal semen analysis or no delay prior to insemination). Eight pregnancies began following the replacement of 38 embryos in 34 patients. Six spontaneous abortions occurred, and chromosomal abnormalities were proven in the two cases analyzed. Two pregnancies continued for more than 3 months, resulting in term deliveries of two normal babies.     

Human oocyte-cumulus complexes stimulate the human acrosome reaction

Oocyte-cumulus complexes were obtained, after induced ovulation, from infertile patients participating in an in-vitro fertilization programme. About 6 h after retrieval and depending on the expansion of the cumulus, 100,000 motile spermatozoa, prepared by a migration-centrifugation method, were added. After 14-18 h incubation at 37 degrees C, oocytes were examined for signs of fertilization (pronuclei and polar body formation) and then removed; spermatozoa remaining in the incubation medium were fixed for transmission electron microscopy. To provide an adequate number of cells for observation, spermatozoa from a minimum of 3-5 oocytes from the same patient were pooled. When sufficient spermatozoa were available after insemination, the remainder of the suspension was incubated at 37 degrees C and fixed along with the corresponding oocyte-incubated sample. In all, 32 sperm samples were assessed and fertilized oocytes were obtained with 29 of these. In the 24 samples in which greater than 100 spermatozoa (mean of 192) could be assessed, 32% of spermatozoa had initiated or completed the acrosome reaction. In the 15 of these 24 samples for which oocyte-free controls were available, 31% of cells were reacting or reacted, compared with 15% of cells (P less than 0.001) in the controls. In the remaining 8 samples, incubated with oocyte-cumulus complexes, less than 100 but greater than or equal to 20 spermatozoa (mean of 42) were assessed and again 32% of spermatozoa were reacted.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Induction of the acrosome reaction on the surface of de-jellied sea urchin eggs

The vitelline coat of sea urchin eggs was disrupted by DTT and trypsin after removal of the jelly layer. Thereafter the percentage of acrosome reaction was determined and the fertilization rate was estimated, employing the treated eggs. Electron microscopical investigation of these eggs showed that the vitelline coat was disrupted but no morphological difference was observed between eggs treated with DTT and those treated with trypsin. However, the fertilizability of the eggs was markedly decreased by the treatment with trypsin. In contrast, DTT treatment did not affect the fertilizability of the eggs, indicating that some surface substance(s) necessary for fertilization which were not eliminated by DTT were digested by trypsin. At the same time, the percentage of acrosome reaction of supernumerary spermatozoa in the presence of variously treated eggs was estimated as an index of the acrosome reaction-inducing activity of the egg surface. The acrosome reaction of spermatozoa actually occurred at the surface of de-jellied and DTT-treated eggs. However, the eggs treated with trypsin lost the capacity to induce the acrosome reaction. The surface substance which induces the acrosome reaction and renders the eggs fertile was removed by trypsin and found in the supernatant fraction. The necessity of an acrosome reaction for fertilization was demonstrated by the fact that the low fertilizability of trypsin-treated eggs was brought back to the control level by insemination with spermatozoa previously treated with egg water to evoke the reaction of the acrosomes.     

Influence of complement depletion on sperm function in the female rabbit

Female rabbits were wholly depleted of complement by treatment with anti-complementary cobra venom factor (CVF) 36 h before mating. Complement depletion did not compromise occurrence of the acrosome reaction, as judged by sperm penetration of eggs collected 12-13 h post coitum. However, in CVF-treated females, significantly more spermatozoa had penetrated the egg vestments, more spermatozoa were present in flushings from the oviducts, and sometimes the uterus, than in control females mated to the same males. The results indicate that, although the acrosome reaction is unlikely to depend on complement activation, complement-dependent factors may exert a restrictive effect on spermatozoa after vaginal insemination of the normal female rabbit.     

Acrosome reaction of bovine spermatozoa in vivo: sites and effects of stages of the estrous cycle

Thirty-two cows were inseminated near the uterotubal junction at various stages of the estrous cycle and slaughtered 16 h later to determine the effects of stage of the estrous cycle and tubal site of sperm recovery on the frequency of acrosome-reacted bull spermatozoa. Slaughter times were 46, 70, 144, or 168 h after each cow was injected with prostaglandin (PG) F 2 alpha or during the luteal phase of the estrous cycle. Sperm were recovered from the upper uterus and the isthmus and ampulla of the oviducts and stained for both viability and acrosome reaction. The highest frequency of acrosome-reacted sperm was found in the ampulla ipsilateral to a dominant follicle (largest follicle present) or recent ovulation and primarily at 70 h after PGF2 alpha (P less than 0.05). Also, fewer sperm were acrosome reacted prior to (46 h post-PGF2 alpha) and well after (168 h post-PGF2 alpha) estrus than during or immediately postestrus (70, 90, and 144 h post-PGF2 alpha; P less than 0.05). Except for two cows, one at 46 h and one at 70 h, all cows with more than 50% acrosome-reacted sperm in the ampulla had ovulated before slaughter. These data suggest that capacitated sperm become localized in the ampulla of the oviduct of the ovulatory side around the time of ovulation.     

Heavy meromyosin-binding filaments in the mitotic apparatus of mammaliam cells

Guinea pig spermatozoa fail to fertilize eggs in Ca²⁺-free media primarily because of specific inhibition of the acrosome reaction and activation of the spermatozoa. In Ca²⁺-free media the spermatozoa undergo capacitation at the same rate as in Ca²⁺-containing media, but are arrested in the capacitated state. If Ca²⁺ is made available after the spermatozoa have reached the capacitated state, the spermatozoa immediately undergo the acrosome reaction and activation. The minimum concentration of Ca²⁺ necessary for the initiation of the acrosome reaction and activation is about 0.2 mM. Mg²⁺ cannot substitute for Ca²⁺ in initiating these processes. Possible mechanisms by which Ca²⁺ triggers the acrosome reaction and activation of guinea pig spermatozoa are discussed.     

Inhibition of in-vitro fertilization of intact and denuded hamster eggs by univalent anti-sperm antibodies.

Univalent (Fab) rabbit anti-hamster sperm antibodies added to an in-vitro fertilization system did not interfere with the sperm acrosome reaction or motility, but inhibited cumulus dispersion by the spermatozoa, sperm binding to and passage through the zona pellucida as well as sperm-egg fusion. Addition of the Fab preparations to the capacitated spermatozoa at various times before or up to 40-45 min after the sperm-egg mixing prevented penetration of spermatozoa through the zona pellucida. Detachment of the spermatozoa already bound as well as those partly inside the zona pellucida was achieved by a late addition of antibodies. In experiments with zona-free hamster eggs, addition of the Fab antibodies to the spermatozoa 10 min to 5 h before the introduction of unfertilized eggs reduced the rate of adhesion and fertilization to very low levels. These antibodies were not absorbed on hamster ovary, liver or kidney and had no direct effect on the fertilizability of zona-intact or zona-free eggs.