ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2015
Bimodal rheotactic behavior reflects flagellar beat asymmetry in human sperm cells.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 52 papers.
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Who cites it
52 citing papers in PubMed, 114 citations in OpenAlex.
- Precise 3D Tracking of Highly Non-Planar Eukaryotic Flagellar Beating Patterns Using Digital Holographic Microscopy.Small methods · 2026Article
- Simple and rapid microfluidic device for processing raw human semen and separation of motile sperm based on their intrinsic behavior and morphology.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- 3D+t Multifocal Imaging Dataset of Human Sperm.Scientific data · 2025Article
- Straining Flow Effects on Sperm Flagellar Energetics in Microfluidic Cross-Slot Traps.Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) · 2025Article
- Swimming by Spinning: Spinning-Top Type Rotations Regularize Sperm Swimming Into Persistently Progressive Paths in 3D.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- Microfluidics-A novel technique for high-quality sperm selection for greater ART outcomes.FASEB bioAdvances · 2024Review
- Time and power dependence of laser-induced photodamage on human sperm revealed by longitudinal rolling measurement using optical tweezers.Biomedical optics express · 2024Article
- Microfluidic chip as a promising evaluation method in assisted reproduction: A systematic review.Bioengineering & translational medicine · 2024Review
- Human sperm rotate with a conserved direction during free swimming in four dimensions.Journal of cell science · 2023Article
- Sperm selection by the oviduct: perspectives for male fertility and assisted reproductive technologies†.Biology of reproduction · 2023Article
- Lab-on-chip (LoC) application for quality sperm selection: An undelivered promise?Open research Europe · 2023Review
- New horizons in human sperm selection for assisted reproduction.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Review
- Separation of motile human sperms in a T-shaped sealed microchannel.Biomedical engineering letters · 2022Article
- Article
- The influence of the female reproductive tract and sperm features on the design of microfluidic sperm-sorting devices.Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2022Review
- Chirality and frequency measurement of longitudinal rolling of human sperm using optical trap.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2022Article
- Biological benefits of collective swimming of sperm in a viscoelastic fluid.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2022Article
- Mammalian sperm hyperactivation regulates navigation via physical boundaries and promotes pseudo-chemotaxis.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2021Article
- Near-wall rheotaxis of the ciliateScience advances · 2021Article
- Rheotaxis-based sperm separation using a biomimicry microfluidic device.Scientific reports · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Rheotaxis, the directed response to fluid velocity gradients, has been shown to facilitate stable upstream swimming of mammalian sperm cells along solid surfaces, suggesting a robust physical mechanism for long-distance navigation during fertilization. However, the dynamics by which a human sperm orients itself relative to an ambient flow is poorly understood. Here, we combine microfluidic experiments with mathematical modeling and 3D flagellar beat reconstruction to quantify the response of individual sperm cells in time-varying flow fields. Single-cell tracking reveals two kinematically distinct swimming states that entail opposite turning behaviors under flow reversal. We constrain an effective 2D model for the turning dynamics through systematic large-scale parameter scans, and find good quantitative agreement with experiments at different shear rates and viscosities. Using a 3D reconstruction algorithm to identify the flagellar beat patterns causing left or right turning, we present comprehensive 3D data demonstrating the rolling dynamics of freely swimming sperm cells around their longitudinal axis. Contrary to current beliefs, this 3D analysis uncovers ambidextrous flagellar waveforms and shows that the cell's turning direction is not defined by the rolling direction. Instead, the different rheotactic turning behaviors are linked to a broken mirror symmetry in the midpiece section, likely arising from a buckling instability. These results challenge current theoretical models of sperm locomotion.
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Registered trials
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.