My long term goal is to understand how the sperm acquire fertilizing capacity at the
molecular level. In particular, I am focusing in several basic questions that arise from
the capacitation model in the figure such as: 1. Which are the protein substrates for
tyrosine phosphorylation and how are they involved in the capacitation process? 2. Which
are the tyrosine kinase/s and/or phosphotyrosine phosphatases responsible for the
increase in protein tyrosine phosphorylation observed during capacitation? 3. How
capacitation and the capacitation-associated hyperpolarization are regulated by
components of the capacitation medium? 4. How are changes in cAMP, protein tyrosine
phosphorylation and hyperpolarization of the sperm plasma membrane integrated to regulate
capacitation? 5. Where in the sperm do the changes in cAMP, protein tyrosine
phosphorylation and hyperpolarization occur during capacitation? 6. How cholesterol
removal affects signaling pathways during sperm capacitation? 

Mice

Link

Mechanisms of sperm-egg interactions: between sugars and broken bonds (with Harvey M. Florman), Science signaling (2010)

A model of the early events of mammalian fertilization has emerged during the past 30...

 

Humans

Link

Mechanisms of sperm-egg interactions: between sugars and broken bonds (with Harvey M. Florman), Science signaling (2010)

A model of the early events of mammalian fertilization has emerged during the past 30...

 

Sperm-Ovum Interactions

Link

Mechanisms of sperm-egg interactions: between sugars and broken bonds (with Harvey M. Florman), Science signaling (2010)

A model of the early events of mammalian fertilization has emerged during the past 30...

 

Polysaccharides

Link

Mechanisms of sperm-egg interactions: between sugars and broken bonds (with Harvey M. Florman), Science signaling (2010)

A model of the early events of mammalian fertilization has emerged during the past 30...

 

Animals

Link

Mechanisms of sperm-egg interactions: between sugars and broken bonds (with Harvey M. Florman), Science signaling (2010)

A model of the early events of mammalian fertilization has emerged during the past 30...

 

*Models, Biological

Link

Mechanisms of sperm-egg interactions: between sugars and broken bonds (with Harvey M. Florman), Science signaling (2010)

A model of the early events of mammalian fertilization has emerged during the past 30...

 

No subject area

Link

Fluorescent Properties of c-Type Cytochromes Reveal Their Potential Role as an Extracytoplasmic Electron Sink in Geobacter Sulfurreducens (with Derek Lovley, Abraham Esteve-Núñez, and Julian Sosnik), Environmental Microbiology (2008)