Abstract
Summary
Rabbit sperm incubated in uterine fluid in vitro did not show any decrease in acrosomal proteolytic activity. There is a measureable decrease in acrosomal hyaluronidase activity following incubation in postovulatory uterine fluid, but not during incubation in pre-ovulatory uterine fluid. Rabbit sperm incubated in post-ovulatory uterine fluid for 5 hr were capable of fertilizing ova and were considered to be capacitated. Sperm incubated past the time of hyaluronidase release were not capable of fertilizing ova. It is believed that the release of hyaluronidase by rabbit sperm incubated in uterine fluid is related to the completion of the process of capacitation. Thus, the release of hyaluronidase can be used, under the proper conditions, as an end point for the study of in vitro capacitation of rabbit sperm.
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