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Direct action of endocrine disrupting chemicals on human sperm
Author(s) -
Schiffer Christian,
Müller Astrid,
Egeberg Dorte L,
Alvarez Luis,
Brenker Christoph,
Rehfeld Anders,
Frederiksen Hanne,
Wäschle Benjamin,
Kaupp U Benjamin,
Balbach Melanie,
Wachten Dagmar,
Skakkebaek Niels E,
Almstrup Kristian,
Strünker Timo
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
embo reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.584
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1469-3178
pISSN - 1469-221X
DOI - 10.15252/embr.201438869
Subject(s) - action (physics) , endocrine system , sperm , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , hormone , genetics , biochemistry , physics , quantum mechanics
Synthetic endocrine disrupting chemicals ( EDC s), omnipresent in food, household, and personal care products, have been implicated in adverse trends in human reproduction, including infertility and increasing demand for assisted reproduction. Here, we study the action of 96 ubiquitous EDC s on human sperm. We show that structurally diverse EDC s activate the sperm‐specific CatSper channel and, thereby, evoke an intracellular Ca 2+ increase, a motility response, and acrosomal exocytosis. Moreover, EDC s desensitize sperm for physiological CatSper ligands and cooperate in low‐dose mixtures to elevate Ca 2+ levels in sperm. We conclude that EDC s interfere with various sperm functions and, thereby, might impair human fertilization.