Table 2

Effect of solubilised human zona pellucida on intracellular Ca²⁺concentration and the acrosome reaction (AR) of capacitated spermatozoa
		[Ca²⁺]_i(nM)			Ca²⁺influx(nM)		AR

Type of [Ca²⁺] increase	Treatment	Basal level	Peak	Sustained phase	Peak^b	Sustained phase^c	(%)	ZPIAR^d(%)

Pattern I (n = 12)	hZP^a	386.7 ± 35.2	1162.1 ± 196.5***	1030.8 ± 232.4**	775.4 ± 190.8***	644.2 ± 215.4^**	61.4 ± 7.7^*	44.0 ± 6.5
	Control	345.8 ± 42.5	363.7 ± 39.3	380.8 ± 33.2	17.9 ± 15.9	35.0 ± 15.5	17.4 ± 2.1

Pattern II (n = 9)	hZP^a	487.4 ± 62.7		1188.9 ± 230.2**		701.4 ± 178.3**	60.9 ± 6.6*	34.9 ± 5.8
	Control	441.1 ± 42.9		467.8 ± 52.0		26.7 ± 25.0	26.0 ± 2.6

All the values are expressed as means ± SEM; the number of experiments is shown in brackets (n=); [Ca²⁺]_i= intracellular Ca²⁺concentration; AR = acrosome reaction; pattern I corresponds to a biphasic increase in [Ca²⁺]_I; pattern II corresponds to a monophasic increase in [Ca²⁺]_i; ^a2 ZP/μl were incubated with the spermatozoa; ^bΔ between [Ca²⁺]_iat peak and basal level; ^cΔ between [Ca²⁺]_iat sustained phase and basal level; ^dhuman zona pellucida-induced acrosome reaction; ,,** statistically different from respective control p < 0.05,p < 0.01,**p < 0.001 with Student's t test.
Patrat et al. BMC Developmental Biology 2006 6:59 doi:10.1186/1471-213X-6-59