Adenosine stimulates human sperm motility via A2 receptors.

The effects of adenosine and its analogues on human sperm motility were studied using a transmembrane migration method. Specific binding sites for adenosine in human sperm were also investigated. Adenosine and 5'-N-ethylcarboxamidoadenosine (NECA) stimulated human sperm motility with similar efficacies and the maximal amplitudes of motility increases were both about 70%. 3,7-Dimethyl-1-propargylxanthine (DMPX), a potent A2 antagonist, competitively antagonized NECA-induced motility stimulation. Successively higher concentrations of DMPX shifted the dose-response curve of NECA to the right in a nearly parallel fashion. Dipyridamole, an inhibitor of adenosine uptake, does not reduce the ability of adenosine to stimulate human sperm motility. In radioligand-binding studies, adenosine A1 selective analogues, cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropylxanthine and 1-methyl-2-phenylethyl adenosine, have little competitive effect on [3H]NECA binding in human sperm membrane. These results provide evidence that adenosine enhances human sperm motility via adenosine A2 receptors on the surface of sperm membranes.