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Sperm capacitation refers to the physiological changes spermatozoa must undergo in order to have the ability to penetrate and fertilize an egg. Austin later referred to this process as capacitation in an issue of Nature published on 23 August 1952.
Similarly, you may ask, how long is sperm capacitation?
Sperm transport through the female genital tract can occur quite rapidly (times as short as 15–30 min have been reported in humans), whereas capacitation may take from 3 h to 24 h [44]. It is speculated; therefore, that capacitation is not completed until after the spermatozoa have entered the cumulus oophorus.
Furthermore, what does capacitation mean?
Medical Definition of capacitation : the change undergone by sperm in the female reproductive tract that enables them to penetrate and fertilize an egg.
Capacitation is a functional maturation of the spermatozoon. The changes take place via the sperm cell membrane in which it may be that receptors are made available through the removal of a glycoprotein layer. The area of the acrosomal cap is also so altered thereby that the acrosome reaction becomes possible.