[Dynamic interaction between spermatozoa and the mucosa of the female genital tract in the mouse: study using scanning and transmission electron microscopy].

Submicroscopic alterations occurring in mouse spermatozoa during their stay in the female reproductive tract as revealed by scanning and transmission electron microscopy using ruthenium red as marker for glycosaminoglycans are described in the present investigation. The results show that the surface of the plasma membrane covering the acrosomal region of the spermatozoa found in the uterus at different intervals of time after copulation (between 10 minutes up to 20 hours), was provided with an increasing number of granules and small vesicles. Some of the surface structures appear gradually leading to perforation of discrete areas of plasma membranes in regions corresponding to the acrosomal region covering the head of spermatozoa. Also the use of ruthenium red shows a significant decrease of glycosaminoglycans and their sialic acid moieties that specifically precede further vesiculation and fenestration (perforation) of the plasma membrane covering the same acrosomal regions.