1C45 せん断流れ下における精子運動の数値計算

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  • 1C45 A Numerical Simulation of Sperm Cell Locomotion in Shear Flow

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A sperm cell is a flagellated cell and it can swim in a fluid by beating flagellum. Locomotion of a sperm cell is strongly affected by surrounding fluid flow, and recently rheotaxis of sperm cells was found experimentally. Fluid mechanics then becomes a subject of growing importance in sperm motility. In this study, we numerically investigate sperm cell behavior in shear flow near a plane wall to quantitatively understand how fluid mechanics affects on swimming of sperm cell. Due to the small size of sperm cells, inertia effects of fluid motion can be neglected and we assume Stokes flow around the cell. Flow field is then expressed by boundary integral equation and which is solved by a boundary element method. As a result, the sperm cell shows reorient to upstream and keeps on swimming against the fluid flow. This result suggests that fluid mechanics plays a key role in navigation of sperm cells towards the ovum, which is located upstream in the oviduct.

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