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Real pictures of human sperm delivered by gather.site, each with its paper. Sperm are the end of the line the spermatocyte is on.

11 pictures and 8 papers.

Gallery

Representative immunofluorescence images of TTC29 in spermatozoa from the fertile control. TTC29 signal was readily detected along the sperm flagellum. alpha-Tubulin labeled the sperm flagellum, and DAPI stained the nuclei. (human (fertile control spermatozoa); FIGURE 4, control arm (fertile control spermatozoa; left half, cols 84-845 of figure).)

Li, Wan, Feng et al 2026, Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology · CC BY 4.0

Transmission electron micrograph of a transverse section through the flagellum of a sperm from a fertile control, cropped from a figure that compares the fertile control with the proband. Control sperm flagella exhibited the canonical "9 + 2" axonemal organization. Yellow arrows indicate the central pair (CP), blue arrows indicate peripheral doublet microtubules (DMTs), and red arrows indicate outer dense fibers (ODFs). Scale bar, 200 nm. (human (fertile control donor spermatozoa); FIGURE 3, control arm.)

Li, Wan, Feng et al 2026, Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology · CC BY 4.0

Ultrastructure of sperm from Lrrc71-/- mice. A, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis of epididymal sperm from Lrrc71+/+ and Lrrc71-/- mice. Adapted: SEM panel A only; TEM panels B and C, IF panel D, and quantification panels E and F excluded. (mouse (epididymal sperm, Lrrc71-/- and wild-type); Figure 3, panel A only (SEM of epididymal sperm; TEM panels B-C, IF panel D, and bar charts E-F excluded).)

Yuan, Xu, Ge et al 2026, The Journal of Biological Chemistry · CC BY 4.0

Structural and molecular defects of the sperm flagellum in Cfap251 knockout mice. (B, C) Immunofluorescence of sperm stained with TOMM20 (B, red) or SEPT4 (C, red), acetylated tubulin (green), and DAPI (blue), indicating mitochondrial and annulus defects in Cfap251-/- sperm. Scale bar, 5 um. Adapted: IF panels B and C only; TEM panels A and F, quantification panels D and E, and additional IF panels G-K excluded. (mouse (Cfap251 knockout and wild-type epididymal sperm); Figure 4, panels B and C (IF of mature sperm with TOMM20 and SEPT4; TEM panel A, quantification D-E, and IF G-K excluded).)

Liu, Wang, Zhou et al 2026, International Journal of Biological Sciences · CC BY 4.0

Ultrastructural flagellar abnormalities in the patient. Representative TEM micrographs showing cross sections of the midpiece, principal piece, and end piece of sperm flagella from a fertile control and the patient. Scale bars represent 100 nm. (Figure 5.)

Li, Tao, Ji et al 2026, Human Mutation · CC BY 4.0

CAPZA1 mutation leads to protein deficiency and impairs sperm progressive motility and flagellar ultrastructure. (A) Pedigree analysis was performed using whole-exome sequencing in an infertile family. Red-filled squares indicate infertile males, with the nucleotide variant information shown below the pedigree. (B) Sanger sequencing chromatograms show wild-type (WT) and mutant (c.11T>C) sequences, with the mutation site highlighted by red boxes and indicated by red arrows. The bar graph represents the number of individuals carrying the WT or CAPZA1 c.11T>C in normal ( n = 20) and asthenozoospermic ( n = 20) groups. (C) Western blot analysis of CAPZA1 expression in non-mutant asthenozoospermic patients (WT) ( n = 17) and mutant asthenozoospermic patients (CAPZA1 c.11T>C) ( n = 3). (D) Spearman correlation between CAPZA1 protein levels and progressive motility. (E) Transmission electron microscopy images of sperm flagella in WT and CAPZA1 c.11T>C sperm. The red numbers denote nine peripheral microtubule doublets, the yellow dash represents longitudinal columns. Scale bars = 500 nm, enlarged = 200 nm. Data are presented as mean +/- SD ( n = 3). ** p < 0.01 compared with WT group. (human (sperm from non-mutant and CAPZA1 c.11T>C asthenozoospermic patients); Figure 1.)

Lu, Li, Hu et al 2026, Frontiers in Endocrinology · CC BY 4.0

Ultrastructural abnormalities in sperm flagella revealed by transmission electron microscopy. A TEM analysis of sperm flagella from patient P2 (II:5) showing severely disorganized or absent axonemal microtubule doublets (DMTs). The axoneme structure in control presents a '9 + 2' microtubules arrangement, including mitochondrial sheath (MS, indicated with plum arrow), central pair of microtubules (CP, indicated with green arrow), outer dense fibers (ODFs, indicated with turquoise arrow), peripheral doublet microtubules (DMTs, indicated with yellow arrow), inner dynein arm (IDA, indicated with orange arrow), and outer dynein arm (ODA, indicated with red arrow) scale bars, 500 nm. B Quantification of abnormal axonemal cross-sections in patient P2 (II:5) compared to an unaffected control brother (II:1). (Fig. 3.)

Abbas, Hussain, Hui et al 2026, Basic and Clinical Andrology · CC BY 4.0

Ultrastructure of sperm from Lrrc71-/- mice. A, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis of epididymal sperm from Lrrc71+/+ and Lrrc71-/- mice. B, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis of epididymal sperm from Lrrc71+/+ and Lrrc71-/- mice. The yellow arrow indicates the detached acrosome from the nuclear membrane, the blue arrow indicates the partial absence of the mitochondrial sheath at the junction between the midpiece and principal piece of the sperm tail. Ac, acrosome; An, annulus; Fs, fiber sheath; Mi, mitochondrion; N, nucleus. C, representative TEM images of sperm cross sections from Lrrc71+/+ and Lrrc71-/- mice. CP, central microtubule; Fs, fiber sheath; M, mitochondrion; MTD, microtubule doublets; ODF, outer dense fiber. Scale bar is 200 nm. D, immunofluorescence (IF) staining was performed to visualize mitochondrial sheath (red color), SEPTIN4 protein expression (green color), and nuclei (blue color) in spermatozoa from Lrrc71+/+ and Lrrc71-/- mice. Scale bar is 10 um. E, percentage of sperm with abnormal midpiece-principal piece connections in Lrrc71+/+ and Lrrc71-/- mice. At least 200 sperm per mouse were counted (n = 3). F, percentage of SEPTIN4-positive sperm in Lrrc71+/+ and Lrrc71-/- mice. At least 200 sperm per mouse were counted (n = 3). All data are presented as mean +/- SD. (mouse (Lrrc71+/+ wild-type and Lrrc71-/- knockout mouse epididymal spermatozoa); Figure 3.)

Yuan, Xu, Ge et al 2026, The Journal of Biological Chemistry · CC BY 4.0

TENT5C poly(A) polymerase activity is required for fertility and spermiogenesis. a Box plot showing the average pups per litter obtained per adult male mouse after mating with 2 control females. Tent5c null/null (n = 11 mice) and Tent5c dcat/dcat (n = 6 mice) mice are compared to Tent5c wt/wt (n = 14 mice). b Box plot showing the number of flagella from cauda epididymides for Tent5c null/null (n = 16 mice) and Tent5c dcat/dcat mice (n = 9 mice), expressed relative to Tent5c wt/wt (n = 26 mice). c Bar plot showing the proportion of germ cell morphologies in semen isolated from the cauda epididymides of Tent5c wt/wt (n = 18 mice), Tent5c null/null (n = 11 mice), and Tent5c dcat/dcat (n = 8 mice). Quantification from Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) staining. d Representative micrographs of epididymis cross sections (caput, upper; cauda, middle) and sperm from caudal epididymides (lower) stained with H&E. Sections from Tent5c null/null and Tent5c dcat/dcat mice are compared to Tent5c wt/wt. Sperm heads (nuclei) show a blue staining and flagella shades of pink. Scale, 40 um. n = 3 mice per condition. e Representative micrographs showing stage VII/VIII tubule cross sections stained with Periodic Acid Schiff (PAS). Arrowheads indicate sperm heads. Scale, 20 um. n = 3 mice per condition. f Representative micrographs of stage VII/VIII tubule cross sections immunostaining from Tent5c wt/wt, Tent5c null/null, and Tent5c dcat/dcat. SYCP3 immunostaining (yellow) marks spermatocytes; PNA labeling (red) marks spermatid acrosomes, TUNEL immunostaining (green) marks apoptotic cells, and DAPI labeling (grey) marks nuclei. Scale, 20 um. n = 3 mice per condition. (Fig. 3.)

Baptissart, Gupta, Perez et al 2026, Nature Communications · CC BY 4.0

Transmission electron microscopy analysis of sperm flagellar ultrastructure. Representative transverse sections of the midpiece and principal piece from a fertile control and the proband are shown. Control sperm flagella exhibited the canonical "9 + 2" axonemal organization, whereas sperm flagella from the proband showed loss or poor definition of the central pair, loss or disorganization of peripheral doublet microtubules, and abnormal arrangement of outer dense fibers. Yellow arrows indicate the central pair (CP), blue arrows indicate peripheral doublet microtubules (DMTs), and red arrows indicate outer dense fibers (ODFs). (FIGURE 3.)

Li, Wan, Feng et al 2026, Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology · CC BY 4.0

Correlative optical and soft X-ray imaging of a normal mouse spermatozoon. (A) Bright-field optical micrograph of a single sperm cell. (B) Ptychographic soft X-ray phase map of the same cell. (B, C, D) Enlarged views of the boxed regions in panel (B); in (C), the annulus region is outlined by a yellow dashed rectangle; and in (D), the head-midpiece junction is indicated by a red arrow. (E) Cryogenic soft X-ray transmission computed tomography reconstruction of a sperm flagellum, with the axoneme, fibrous sheath, and mitochondrial sheath discernible. Scale bars: (A, B) 2 um; (C, E) 1 um. (mouse (normal mouse spermatozoon); Figure 2..)

Chen, Chen, Xiao et al 2026, Life Science Alliance · CC BY 4.0

Papers

  1. Li L, Wan F, Feng K, Qu X, Xia Y, Dong J, et al. A novel frameshift variant in TTC29 associated with total asthenozoospermia and male infertility. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2026;14:1937470. PMID: 42756534.
  2. Li M, Tao W, Ji Q, Yan D, Zhang C, Zhang Q, et al. A Novel Homozygous Mutation in ARL2BP Causes Multiple Morphological Abnormalities of the Flagella and Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia. Hum Mutat. 2026;2026:7635300. PMID: 42643619.
  3. Abbas M, Hussain A, Hui M, Ali H, Lateef M, Hussain M, et al. A novel homozygous frameshift mutation in CFAP65 is associated with multiple morphological abnormalities of sperm flagella in a consanguineous Pakistani family. Basic Clin Androl. 2026;36:22. PMID: 42477516.
  4. Chen N, Chen H, Xiao J, He B, Zhang D, Yuan X, et al. Annulus fracture underlies radiation-induced sperm dysfunction revealed by multimodal nano-imaging. Life Sci Alliance. 2026;9:e202603693. PMID: 42203511.
  5. Yuan L, Xu C, Ge T, Li G, Meng S, Lu W, et al. LRRC71 is essential for sperm motility, fertilization, and male fertility. J Biol Chem. 2026;302:113176. PMID: 42167576.
  6. Baptissart M, Gupta A, Perez ML, Poirot AC, Papas BN, Guardia CM, et al. TENT5C extends Odf1 poly(A) tail to sustain sperm morphogenesis and fertility. Nat Commun. 2026;17:5421. PMID: 42009655.
  7. Liu L, Wang Z, Zhou Y, Tang D, Hua R, Li K, et al. CFAP251 Deficiency Induces Male Infertility and PCD-like Ciliary Defects by Disrupting TUBB4B and SLC25A4 Recruitment in Humans and Mice. Int J Biol Sci. 2026;22:2970-2985. PMID: 41943837.
  8. Lu H, Li G, Hu J, Ruan H, Zhao L, Li Y, et al. CAPZA1 deficiency disrupts sperm flagellar structure and motility, potentially involving the p300/SLC7A11 pathway. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2026;17:1744836. PMID: 41858859.

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