ROS, thiols and thiol-regulating systems in male gametogenesis

摘要

Background: During maturation and storage, spermatozoa generate substantial amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and are thus forced to cope with an increasingly oxidative environment that is both needed and detrimental to their biology. Such a janus-faceted intermediate needs to be tightly controlled and this is done by a wide array of redox enzymes. These enzymes not only have to prevent unspecific modifications of essential cellular biomolecules by quenching undesired ROS, but they are also required and often directly involved in critical protein modifications.