Yan Repro and Hormonal Functions of Male Flashcards
(105 cards)
how many seminiferous tubules are there?
900
Are the epididymis long?
sort of, 6m long
When does puberty start?
around 12-14 years of age
What are the three phases of psermatogenesis?
1) mitotic of spermataogonia to spermatocytes
2) meiosis turning spermatocytes into spermatids
3) haploid differentiation and morphogenesis of spermatids to spermatazoa
Where do spermatagonia hang out?
on the basal membrane waiting to undergo mitosis
So you have PGCs that turn into spermatogonia and wait on the basal membrane until puberty, where they will begin to undergo mitosis to turn into (blank)
spermatocytes and then eventually become sperm
What 2 things do sperm need to be effective?
flagella and acrosome
What is the acrosome filled with?
enzymes to penetrate the shell of the egg
What three hormones stimulate spermatogenesis?
LH
FSH
Testosterone
What secretes testosterone and thus helps with the meiotic and haploid phases of spermatogenesis?
Leydig cells
What is secreted by the anterior ptituitary gland and stimulates the leydig cells to secrete testosterone?
LH
What is secreted by the anterior pituitary gland and stimulates the sertoli cells to secrete growth factors to maintain quantitiave spermatogenesis?
FSH
How do you make estrogen?
by aromatizing testosterone in Sertoli cells
What does estrogen do in men?
it allows for the reabsorption of fluid from the epididymis to allow for concentrated sperm
Beta estrogen receptors on spermatogonia, spermatocytes and sertoli cells may mediate the actions of (blank)
xenoestrogens (estrogenic endocrine disrupters; mimc estrogen)
What is secreted from sertoli cells or germ cells and can as effectors of major hormonal signals?
growth factors
Paracrine and autocrine regulation of growth hormone is under the control of (Blank)
endocrine signals
Do males need estrogen?
yes, without it they will become infertile
What binds to sertoli cells to make it produce growth factors and inhibin?
FSH
How does a sperm become motile?
it gains motility as it moves from the head (caput) of the epididymis to the tail (cauda) of the epididymis.
At what point in the epididymis does the sperm become motile?
at the middle (corpus) of epididymis (in the head the are not motile)
Where is the majority of sperm stored and are they motile here?
in the vas deferens and no, motility is suppressed here
Since sperm is not motile in the vas deferens when do they become motile again and describe this motility?
upon ejaculation they become motile and when they enter the female they swim all crazy so they can penetrate the egg.
How do the sperm start swimming all crazy in the female reproductive tract?
via ion channels