Fig. 7.

A. [Ca²⁺]_i recordings during the application of RESCUE conditions (adding back glucose and pyruvate, see Methods) in sperm pre-incubated with STRV medium. B. Three types of [Ca²⁺]_i behavior were observed in sperm after RESCUE conditions: NO INCREASE (NO INCR), increase (INCR) or decrease (DECR). Example traces are shown on the right side of the figure. C. Bars summarizing experiments as in B indicate that most sperm exposed to RESCUE conditions manifest a [Ca²⁺]_i decrease. D. Quantification bars show that a statistically significant number of sperm that recover motility decrease their [Ca²⁺]_i (No INCR vs INCR p = 0.007, t = 3.1, n=8; NO INCR vs DECR p = 0.001, t= 4.0, n=8). E. Distribution of the number of sperm displaying a certain Fluo 4 fluorescence corresponding to [Ca²⁺]i levels observed in sperm under NUTR conditions, while in STRV conditions and after RESCUE treatment. F. [Ca²⁺]i and AR measurements during 30 minutes of progesterone (PROG) treatment under RESCUE conditions after sperm were exposed to STRV medium during 15 minutes (top panel). Quantifications show that progesterone applied under RESCUE conditions significantly reduces its potential to induce AR (p = 0.01, t = −3.22, n= 5) (low panel). G. Representative Em trace of sperm exposed to STRV media and then to RESCUE conditions (top panel). Bars summarizing Em values of sperm recorded under NUTR, STRV and then RESCUE conditions showing that RESCUE conditions significantly hyperpolarize sperm Em in comparison to STRV conditions (p = 3.5E-6, t = 9.1, n=6) (lower panel). In all the experiments the quantified data plotted are mean ± S.E. A t-Test was applied for statistical analysis * indicates statistically significant differences when p value < 0.05.