Is the activated spermatozoon really capacitated?
A culture medium (7M) consisting only of salts and devoid of any macromolecule was prepared to test its effect upon survival, activation and acrosome reaction of golden hamster spermatozoa. Incubation of spermatozoa in medium 7N allowed a temporal separation of activation and acrosome reaction. Over seventy per cent of spermatozoa were activated after four hours at 37 degrees C while the acrosome reaction remained very low (8%). Activated spermatozoa with intact acrosomes were incubated with zona-free hamster oocytes at 37 degrees C for one to two hours. When these oocytes were examined with the electron microscope it was found that the spermatozoa were closely bound to the egg plasma membrane, mainly by the plasma membrane overlying the acrosome, but in no instance had the gamete membranes fused. Prolonged incubation resulted in an engulfment of the sperm by the oocyte in a phagocytic manner. The experimental evidence would indicate that an activated spermatozoon is not capacitated since it cannot fertilize oocytes.