Sexual

reproduction in
humans
Passage of sperm from
epididymides to oviduct.

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Transport in the male

Sperm must travel from the seminiferous
tubule to the oviduct in the female.
Seminiferous tubules are grouped into
bundles of 100.
One from each bundle emerges (vas
efferens) and is attached to the epididymis.
The sperm become motile when the
chemicals in the fluid changes. Each sperm
takes about 6-12 days moving from tubule
to epididymis.

Transport in the male cont

Muscular activity of the walls of the
tubes move the sperm from the
epididymis into the vas deferens (they
are fully mature at this time).
More fluid is added from the seminal
vesicles, prostate and Cowpers glands
to form semen.
It is believed that the combined fluids
increase fertility.

Transport from male to female

(sexual intercourse)
Also called coitus or copulation.
The penis becomes erect when a male
becomes psychologically or physically
stimulated.
Erection is caused by dilation of the
arteries entering the penis and
increased blood flow into those arteries.
At the same time the veins leaving the
arteries constrict preventing blood from
leaving the penis.

Transport from male to female

(sexual intercourse)
An orgasm climaxes sexual stimulation.
It is an explosive wave of intense
pleasure accompanied by contraction of
the muscles of the prostate gland,
seminal vesicles, vas deferens and
urethra.
This causes ejaculation of semen and
lasts a few seconds.
Approximately 3cm3 of semen containing
500 million sperm is released.

Transport from male to female

(sexual intercourse)
During coitus, the blood supply to the
clitoris increases causing it to become
erect. The labia also swells as blood
supply increases.
Fluid from the blood seeps through the
vaginal epithelium and lubricates the
vagina. The vagina also expands.
At orgasm, the muscles of the vagina
and uterus contract.

Transport in the female

Sperm are deposited at the top of the
vagina near the cervix.
The alkaline semen helps protect them
from the acidic pH of the vagina (5.7).
The pH changes to about 6.5 which is
ideal for sperm motility and survival.
Most of the sperm leak from the vagina
and do not penetrate the cervix.
The mucus plug of the cervix is thick and
does not allow the passage of sperm.

Transport in the female

cont
The plug becomes thin enough to allow
sperms to pass during the first part of the
menstrual cycle before progesterone
becomes too high.
Action of the cilia lining the uterus and
oviducts along with the swimming action of
the sperm, propel the sperm towards the
oviducts.
Living sperm take 4-8 hours to reach the
oviduct.

Capacitation
Ejaculated sperms must undergo a process
before they can fertilize an ovum.
A layer of glycoprotein (added by the
epididymis) and plasma protein (added
by the seminal fluid) must first be
removed.
Enzymes in the uterus remove these layers.
Removal increases the permeability of the
membrane to calcium ions which causes a
stronger whiplash of sperm tails and
promotes the acrosome reaction.

Acrosome reaction
After capacitation, fertilisation can take place.
Fertilisation takes place in the oviduct and
includes the acrosome reaction.
During this reaction, the acrosome in the
sperm head swells and its membrane fuses
with the cell surface membrane surrounding
the head of the sperm.
The enzymes, such as hyaluronidase and
proteases are released by exocytosis.

Fertilization
This is the fusion of the sperm nucleus with
the egg nucleus to form a zygote (2n).
Enzymes (particularly hyaluronidase)
released by the acrosomes of many sperm
digest a path through the granulosa cells.
By the lashing of the tails the sperm reach
the outer surface of the zona pellucida which
has special receptors to which sperm can
bind.

Fertilization
Another acrosomal enzyme digests a path
through the zona pellucida and the sperm moves
to the surface of the secondary oocyte.
The sperm fuse with microvilli surrounding the
secondary oocyte and penetrate its cytoplasm.
As soon as sperm has penetrated, the cortical
granules (lysosomes) release their enzymes
which cause thickening of the zona pellucida
forming a fertilization membrane. The receptor
sites are also destroyed so no more sperm can
bind to the zona pellucida. This is the cortical
reaction and prevents the entry of other sperm.

Fertilization
As soon as a sperm enters the cytoplasm,
the entry acts as a stimulus for the
completion of meiosis to form an ovum
and a second polar body (which
immediately degenerates).
The nucleus of the sperm swells as its
chromatin becomes less coiled. Both
nuclei of the ovum and sperm are called
pronuclei.
Both pronuclei fuse and this is
fertilization. A zygote is formed (2n)