New insight in human sperm pro-survival and pro-apoptotic pathways: potential new therapeutical targets in male infertility

Abstract Over the past two decades, others and our group have explored the different signalling cascade in human spermatozoa and observed that their deregulation might lead to sperm dysfunctions, contributing to infertility. Studies of patients with infertility have reported variations in sperm features, such as asthenozoospermia, either alone or in combination with other pathologies, more specifically in patients with genital tract infections, sperm metabolic diseases, varicocele, and anatomic/molecular sperm anomalies. Infertility is idiopathic and multifactorial in most patients. Although several studies have elucidated many of the components and mechanisms involved in the human sperm signalling pathways, their role in defective spermatozoa or systemic pathologies remains nebulous. In this review, we focused on transducing signals, the underlying regulatory mechanisms in human spermatozoa and explored the known pro-survival and pro-apoptotic pathways as well as the factors involved.