Abstract
Mitochondria are organelles producing macroergic compounds in basically all eukaryotic cells except mature erythrocytes. Mitochondria play an important role even in mammalian spermatozoa, in which mitochondrial ATP biosynthesis covers energetic demands connected with sperm movement (motility), maturation (including capacitation) and oocyte fertilisation.
Mitochondrial localization and the existence of some specific mitochondrial-protein isoforms point at its indispensable role in fertility maintenance. Mitochondrial disorders are often manifested in tissues with high-energy demands (myopathy, neuropathy, cardiomyopathy), but mitochondrial dysfunction can be often detected also in other peripheral tissues and cells like spermatozoa.
The main goal of this minireview is to summarize the most important findings about mitochondria producing cellular ATP supply and to present spermatozoa as a suitable and valuable biological material, which might be, despite of its uniqueness, a very useful material in clinical diagnostics of certain disorders including mitochondrial or neurodegenerative disorders.