| abstract |
The diagnosis of male infertility is based predominantly on the results of standard semen analysis for concentration, total motility, progressive motility, volume, pH, viscosity and/or morphology. When sperm enter the female reproductive tract, they must undergo a series of physiological changes, known as capacitation, in order to fertilize an egg. This process involves plasma membrane changes that occur in response to stimuli within the female tract. These changes include removal of sterols and redistribution of the ganglioside G M1 . Semen analysis identifies only half the cases of male infertility due to standard semen analysis providing little information on sperm functional competence. Previous data demonstrated that localization of the ganglioside, G M1 , identifies sub-populations of sperm capable of undergoing the functional maturation process known as capacitation and tracks strongly with fertility. |