Fertilization

Frank Longo

1. General considerations of fertilization: a definition. 2. The spermatozoon. 3. Sperm-egg binding. 4. Gamete fusion and sperm incorporation. 5. Egg activation. 6. Blocks to polyspermy and the cortical granule reaction. 7. Alterations in the egg cortex and cytoskeleton. 8. Resumption of meiotic maturation. 9. Metabolic alterations at egg activation. 10. Development of the male pronucleus. 11. Aspects regulating the development. 12. Fate of incorporated sperm mitochondria, flagella and perinuclear structures. 13. Centrosome expression, sperm aster assembly and pronuclear migration. 14. Association of the male and female pronuclei: the concluding events of fertilization. 15. Maniuplation and in vitro fertilization of human and other mammalian gametes.