THE CYTOSKELETON OF MAMMALIAN SPERMATOZOA

The mammalian spermatozoa are endowed with a unique cytoskeleton which consists both of ubiquitous and specific proteins, some of them arisi ng from a gene haploid transcription. In the head, a dense perinuclear layer is made of basic proteins (calicin, cylicin, etc) associated wi th calmodulin and actin remnants. In the flagellum, the axonemal micro tubules are mainly composed of glutamylated tubulin isoforms; the peri axonemal outer dense fibers and fibrous sheath are considered as relat ed cytoskeletal structures on the basis of some common polypeptides.