ArticlePloS one2012
Glucose is a pH-dependent motor for sperm beat frequency during early activation.
Article in PloS one, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed.
- Targeting Soluble Adenylyl Cyclase for On-Demand Contraception.Physiology (Bethesda, Md.) · 2026Review
- Alterations in the protein lactylation landscape of sperm from patients with varicocele-associated asthenozoospermia.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Article
- Ergothioneine Improves the Quality of Boar Sperm DuringAnimals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Cyclic AMP Rescue of Motility in Sperm Devoid of Soluble Adenylyl Cyclase.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- David Garbers and the Birth of cAMP Biology in Mammalian Sperm.Molecular reproduction and development · 2024Review
- pH Homeodynamics and Male Fertility: A Coordinated Regulation of Acid-Based Balance during Sperm Journey to Fertilization.Biomolecules · 2024Review
- Review
- The sodium-glucose cotransporter isoform 1 (SGLT-1) is important for sperm energetics, motility, and fertility†.Biology of reproduction · 2022Article
- Capacitation promotes a shift in energy metabolism in murine sperm.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2022Article
- Strategies to safely target widely expressed soluble adenylyl cyclase for contraception.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2022Article
- Pharmacological modulation of the COPharmacology & therapeutics · 2018Review
- Article
- Differences in ATP Generation Via Glycolysis and Oxidative Phosphorylation and Relationships with Sperm Motility in Mouse Species.The Journal of biological chemistry · 2015Article
- Compartmentalization of membrane trafficking, glucose transport, glycolysis, actin, tubulin and the proteasome in the cytoplasmic droplet/Hermes body of epididymal sperm.Open biology · 2015Article
- Episodic rolling and transient attachments create diversity in sperm swimming behavior.BMC biology · 2014Article
- Intracellular pH in sperm physiology.Biochemical and biophysical research communications · 2014Review
- Transforming growth factor-β1 impairs CFTR-mediated anion secretion across cultured porcine vas deferens epithelial monolayer via the p38 MAPK pathway.American journal of physiology. Cell physiology · 2013Article
- Oxidative phosphorylation versus glycolysis: what fuel do spermatozoa use?Asian journal of andrologyReview
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
To reach the egg in the ampulla, sperm have to travel along the female genital tract, thereby being dependent on external energy sources and substances to maintain and raise the flagellar beat. The vaginal fluid is rich in lactate, whereas in the uterine fluid glucose is the predominant substrate. This evokes changes in the lactate content of sperm as well as in the intracellular pH (pH(i)) since sperm possess lactate/proton co-transporters. It is well documented that glycolysis yields ATP and that HCO(3)- is a potent factor in the increase of beat frequency. We here show for the first time a pathway that connects both parts. We demonstrate a doubling of beat frequency in the mere presence of glucose. This effect can reversibly be blocked by 2-deoxy-D-glucose, dichloroacetate and aminooxyacetate, strongly suggesting that it requires both glycolysis and mitochondrial oxidation of glycolytic end products. We show that the glucose-mediated acceleration of flagellar beat and ATP production are hastened by a pH(i) ≥7.1, whereas a pH(i) ≤7.1 leaves both parameters unchanged. Since we observed a diminished rise in beat frequency in the presence of specific inhibitors against carbonic anhydrases, soluble adenylyl cyclase and protein kinase, we suggest that the glucose-mediated effect is linked to CO(2) hydration and thus the production of HCO(3)- by intracellular CA isoforms. In summary, we propose that, in sperm, glycolysis is an additional pH(i)-dependent way to produce HCO(3)-, thus enhancing sperm beat frequency and contributing to fertility.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.