video: This video, narrated by study author Theodore Tollner of the University of California, Davis, describes how the beta defensin DEFB126 is applied to the sperm surface in the male reproductive tract and describes its role in sperm transport in the female tract. The video shows how sperm from men with the DEFB126 gene deletion mutation show a greatly reduced surface coat of specialized sugars or carbohydrates compared to sperm from men without the deletion mutation. The video also shows that sperm lacking DEFB126 on their surface have a very difficult time swimming through cervical mucus as compared to sperm coated with the beta defensin. This video relates to a paper that appeared in the July 20, 2011, issue of Science Translational Medicine, published by AAAS. The paper, by Dr. Ted Tollner of the University of California, Davis in Davis, Calif. and colleagues, was titled, “Common Mutation in the Defensin DEFB126 Causes Impaired Sperm Function and Subfertility.” view more
Credit: Video created by Theodore L. Tollner, 2011