McGraw Lisa A, Suarez Susan S, Wolfner Mariana F
Department of Biological Sciences, NC State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
Bioessays. 2015 Feb;37(2):142-7. doi: 10.1002/bies.201400117. Epub 2014 Nov 7.
Egg and sperm have, understandably, been the "stars" of mammalian fertilization biology, particularly because artificial reproductive technologies allow for fertilization to occur outside of the female reproductive tract without other apparent contributions from either sex. Yet, recent research, including an exciting new paper, reveals unexpected and important contributions of seminal plasma to fertility. For example, seminal plasma proteins play critical roles in modulating female reproductive physiology, and a new study in mice demonstrates that effects of some of these proteins on the female can even affect the health of her progeny. Furthermore, although several actions of seminal plasma have been conserved across taxa, male accessory glands and their products are diverse - even among mammals. Taken together, these studies suggest that the actions of seminal plasma components are important to understand, and also to consider in future development of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) for humans, farm species and endangered species of mammals.
可以理解，卵子和精子一直是哺乳动物受精生物学的“明星”，特别是因为人工生殖技术使得受精能够在雌性生殖道外发生，而无需两性的其他明显贡献。然而，最近的研究，包括一篇令人兴奋的新论文，揭示了精浆对生育能力的意外而重要的贡献。例如，精浆蛋白在调节雌性生殖生理方面发挥着关键作用，一项对小鼠的新研究表明，其中一些蛋白质对雌性的影响甚至会影响其后代的健康。此外，尽管精浆的几种作用在不同分类群中是保守的，但雄性附属腺及其产物是多样的——即使在哺乳动物中也是如此。综上所述，这些研究表明，了解精浆成分的作用很重要，并且在未来人类、家畜和濒危哺乳动物辅助生殖技术（ART）的发展中也需要考虑这些作用。
