ArticleNature communications2021
Curvature in the reproductive tract alters sperm-surface interactions.
Article in Nature communications, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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
25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 67 citations in OpenAlex.
- Microfluidic chips in female reproduction: a systematic review of status, advances, and challenges.Theranostics · 2024Pooled it
- Droplet microfluidics with image texture quantification for detection of rare antibiotic-resistant subpopulations from bloodstream infections.NPJ digital medicine · 2026Article
- Research and Experiment on the Self-Calibration Mechanism of the Position and Orientation of Micro-Component Based on Droplet Array.Micromachines · 2026Article
- Sperm hyperactivation drives a circling-and-wandering swimming behavior.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Recent Advances in MEMS Actuators for Microfluidic Applications: Emerging Designs, Multiphysics Modeling, and Performance Optimization.Micromachines · 2026Review
- Refined trajectory smoothing and deep learning classification of human sperm motility.Human reproduction (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- Study on Microdroplets Generation and Detection Method in Four-Way Microfluid Structure (FWMS) by Double Photoresist Method Pulses.Micromachines · 2025Article
- Droplet microfluidics-based detection of rare antibiotic-resistant subpopulations inScience advances · 2025Article
- Sperm navigation in humans: a concerted action of multiple means.Communications biology · 2025Review
- Review
- Curvature induces and enhances transport of spinning colloids through narrow channels.Soft matter · 2024Article
- Fallopian tube rheology regulates epithelial cell differentiation and function to enhance cilia formation and coordination.Nature communications · 2024Article
- A Review: Biomechanical Aspects of the Fallopian Tube Relevant to its Function in Fertility.Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) · 2024Review
- Making immotile sperm motile using high-frequency ultrasound.Science advances · 2024Article
- Sperm in the Mammalian Female Reproductive Tract: Surfing Through the Tract to Try to Beat the Odds.Annual review of animal biosciences · 2024Review
- Evaluation of women's aging influence on sperm passage inside the fallopian tube using 3D dynamic mechanical modeling.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2024Article
- Human sperm cooperate to transit highly viscous regions on the competitive pathway to fertilization.Communications biology · 2023Article
- Sperm selection by the oviduct: perspectives for male fertility and assisted reproductive technologies†.Biology of reproduction · 2023Article
- Locomotion of bovine spermatozoa during the transition from individual cells to bundles.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023Article
- Lab-on-chip (LoC) application for quality sperm selection: An undelivered promise?Open research Europe · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The fallopian tube is lined with a highly complex folded epithelium surrounding a lumen that progressively narrows. To study the influence of this labyrinthine complexity on sperm behavior, we use droplet microfluidics to create soft curved interfaces over a range of curvatures corresponding to the in vivo environment. We reveal a dynamic response mechanism in sperm, switching from a progressive surface-aligned motility mode at low curvatures (larger droplets), to an aggressive surface-attacking mode at high curvatures (smaller droplets of <50 µm-radius). We show that sperm in the attacking mode swim ~33% slower, spend 1.66-fold longer at the interface and have a 66% lower beating amplitude than in the progressive mode. These findings demonstrate that surface curvature within the fallopian tube alters sperm motion from a faster surface aligned locomotion in distal regions to a prolonged physical contact with the epithelium near the site of fertilization, the latter being known to promote capacitation and fertilization competence.
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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.