Department of Dermatology/Andrology Unit, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
Microsc Res Tech. 2009 Nov;72(11):878-88. doi: 10.1002/jemt.20732.
Caspases are central components in the apoptosis signaling cascade. The family of cysteine proteases transduces and enhances the apoptosis signal, and activation of effector caspases results in controlled cellular degradation. Although initially the presence of caspases in spermatozoa was controversially discussed in recent years, many studies demonstrated their activation in male germ cells. Activated apoptosis signaling results in decreased fertilizing capacity of the sperm. This review presents the current knowledge on the role of caspases in human sperm. Techniques of caspase monitoring are highlighted. With regard to the high impact of caspases on the sperm fertilizing potential, physiological and pathological settings of caspase activation and inactivation are discussed. Finally, the effects of depletion of caspase-positive sperm are shown with various standard and molecular sperm preparation methods.
Caspases 是细胞凋亡信号级联反应中的核心组成部分。胱天蛋白酶家族转导并增强凋亡信号，效应胱天蛋白酶的激活导致细胞的可控降解。尽管近年来精子中 caspase 的存在最初存在争议，但许多研究表明它们在男性生殖细胞中被激活。激活的凋亡信号导致精子受精能力下降。本文综述了 caspase 在人类精子中的作用的最新知识。突出了 caspase 监测技术。鉴于 caspase 对精子受精能力的高影响，讨论了 caspase 激活和失活的生理和病理状态。最后，展示了各种标准和分子精子制备方法中 caspase 阳性精子耗竭的影响。
