Human sperm steer with second harmonics of the flagellar beat

Guglielmo Saggiorato; Luis Alvarez; Jan F. Jikeli; U. Benjamin Kaupp; Gerhard Gompper; Jens Elgeti

doi:10.1038/s41467-017-01462-y

Nature Communications (Nov 2017)

Human sperm steer with second harmonics of the flagellar beat

Guglielmo Saggiorato,
Luis Alvarez,
Jan F. Jikeli,
U. Benjamin Kaupp,
Gerhard Gompper,
Jens Elgeti

Affiliations

Guglielmo Saggiorato: Institute of Complex Systems and Institute for Advanced Simulation, Forschungszentrum Jülich
Luis Alvarez: Department of Molecular Sensory Systems, Center of Advanced European Studies and Research (CAESAR)
Jan F. Jikeli: Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Modèles Statistiques, CNRS, Université Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay
U. Benjamin Kaupp: Department of Molecular Sensory Systems, Center of Advanced European Studies and Research (CAESAR)
Gerhard Gompper: Institute of Complex Systems and Institute for Advanced Simulation, Forschungszentrum Jülich
Jens Elgeti: Institute of Complex Systems and Institute for Advanced Simulation, Forschungszentrum Jülich

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-01462-y
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 8, no. 1
pp. 1 – 9

Abstract

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The mechanism allowing sperm to steer is not fully understood. The authors find that superposition of two harmonic waves breaks the flagellar beat symmetry temporally rather than spatially, and that this mechanism is enhanced by the sexual hormone progesterone, which changes the motility pattern.

Published in Nature Communications

ISSN: 2041-1723 (Online)
Publisher: Nature Portfolio
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science
Website: https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

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