Sperm development, maturation, and successful fertilization within the female reproductive tract are intricate and orderly processes that involve protein translation and post-translational modifications. Among these modifications, sialylation plays a crucial role. Any disruptions occurring throughout the sperm's life cycle can result in male infertility, yet our current understanding of this process remains limited. Conventional semen analysis often fails to diagnose some infertility cases associated with sperm sialylation, emphasizing the need to comprehend and investigate the characteristics of sperm sialylation. This review reanalyzes the significance of sialylation in sperm development and fertilization and evaluates the impact of sialylation damage on male fertility under pathological conditions. Sialylation serves a vital role in the life journey of sperm, providing a negatively charged glycocalyx and enriching the molecular structure of the sperm surface, which is beneficial to sperm reversible recognition and immune interaction. These characteristics are particularly crucial during sperm maturation and fertilization within the female reproductive tract. Moreover, enhancing the understanding of the mechanism underlying sperm sialylation can promote the development of relevant clinical indicators for infertility detection and treatment.

Summary Sentence

Sialic acids exhibit three pivotal characteristics that render them essential factors in determining the fate decision of mammalian sperm: their negative charge, reversible recognition function, and immune recognition.

Graphical Abstract