Human Life Cycle & Male

Reproductive System
Dr. Muhjah Falah Hasan
Ph.D in infertility & clinical
reproduction
Objectives
• 1.List the functions of the reproductive system in
humans(male vs female).
• 2. Describe the human life cycle.
• 3.Explain the role of mitosis and meiosis in this cycle
&Explain the location of meiosis in males and females.
• 4.Identify the structures of the male reproductive
system and provide a function for each.
• 5.Describe the location and stages of spermatogenesis.
• 6.Summarize how hormones regulate the male
reproductive system.
• Unlike the other systems of the body, the
reproductive system is quite different in males and
females. Puberty is the sequence of events by which
a child becomes a sexually competent young adult.
• The reproductive system does not begin to fully
function until puberty is complete. Sexual maturity
occurs between the ages of 10 and 14 in girls and 12
and 16 in boys. At the completion of puberty, the
individual is capable of producing children.
The reproductive organs (genitals) have the following
functions:

• 1. Males produce sperm within testes, and females produce

eggs within ovaries.
• 2. Males nurture and transport the sperm in ducts until they
exit the penis. Females transport the eggs in uterine tubes to the
uterus.
• 3. The male penis functions to deliver sperm to the female
vagina, which functions to receive the sperm. The vagina also
transports menstrual fluid to the exterior and acts as the birth canal.
• 4. The uterus of the female allows the fertilized egg to
develop within her body. After birth, the female breast provides
nourishment in the form of milk.
• 5. The testes and ovaries produce the sex hormones. The
sex hormones have a profound effect on the body because they bring
about masculinization or feminization of various features. In females,
the sex hormones also allow a pregnancy to continue.
Human Life Cycle
• The human life cycle has two types of cell divisions:
mitosis, in which the chromosome number stays
constant, and meiosis, in which the chromosome
number is reduced. During growth or cell repair,
mitosis ensures that each new cell has 46
chromosomes.
• During production of sex cells, the chromosome
number is reduced from 46 to 23. Therefore, an egg
and a sperm each have 23 chromosomes so that when
the sperm fertilizes the egg, the new cell, called a
zygote, has 46 chromosomes.
Mitosis and Meiosis

• Our DNA is distributed among 46 chromosomes within

the nucleus. The majority of the cell types in the body
have 46 chromosomes.
• Ordinarily, when a cell divides by a process called
mitosis, the new cells also have 46 chromosomes.
Mitosis is duplication division. (As an analogy,
imagine the cell producing exact copies of itself during
mitosis, much like a duplicating machine does with a
page of notes.) In the life cycle of a human being,
mitosis is the type of cell division that takes place
during growth and repair of tissues.
• In addition to mitosis, human cells undergo a type of
cell division called meiosis, which is reduction division.
Meiosis takes place only in the testes of males during
the production of sperm and in the ovaries of females
during the production of eggs.
• During meiosis, the chromosome number is reduced
from the normal 46 chromosomes, called the diploid or
2n number, down to 23 chromosomes, called the
haploid or n number of chromosomes. Meiosis requires
two successive divisions, called meiosis I and meiosis
II.
• The flagellated sperm is small compared to the egg. It is
specialized to carry only chromosomes as it swims to the egg.
The egg is specialized to await the arrival of a sperm and to
provide the new individual with cytoplasm in addition to
chromosomes.
• The first cell of a new human being is called the zygote. A
sperm has 23 chromosomes and the egg has 23
chromosomes, so the zygote has 46 chromosomes altogether.
• Without meiosis, the chromosome number in each
generation of human beings would double, and the cells
would no longer be able to function.
Male Reproductive System

• Testes----------- Produce sperm and sex hormones

• Epididymides---------- Ducts where sperm mature and some
sperm are stored
• Vasa deferentia ---------Conduct and store sperm
• Seminal vesicles -------Contribute nutrients and fluid to semen
• Prostate gland ---------Contributes fl uid to semen
• Urethra ----------Conducts sperm
• Bulbo-urethral glands-------- Contribute mucus-containing
fluid to semen
• Penis ---------Organ of sexual intercourse
• The male gonads, or primary sex organs, are paired
testes (sing., testis), suspended within the sacs
of the scrotum.
• The testes produce sperm.
• The seminal vesicles, the prostate gland, and the
bulbourethral glands provide a fluid medium for the
sperm, which move from the vas deferens through
the ejaculatory duct to the urethra in the penis.
• The foreskin (prepuce) is removed when a penis is
circumcised.
• Sperm produced by the testes mature within the
epididymis; a tightly coiled duct lying just outside each
testis. Maturation seems to be required for sperm to swim
to the egg.
• When sperm leave an epididymis, they enter a vas
deferens (pl., vasa deferentia), also called the
ductus deferens.
• The sperm may be stored for a time in the vas deferens.
Each vas deferens passes into the abdominal cavity, where
it curves around the bladder and empties into an
ejaculatory duct. The ejaculatory ducts enter the urethra.
• At the time of ejaculation, sperm leave the penis in a
• fluid called semen.
• The seminal vesicles, the prostate gland, and the
bulbourethral glands (Cowper glands) add secretions to
seminal fluid.
• The seminal vesicles (a pair) lie at the base of the
bladder, and each has a duct that joins with a vas deferens.
The prostate gland is a single, doughnut-shaped
gland that surrounds the upper portion of the urethra just
below the bladder. In older men, the prostate can enlarge
and squeeze off the urethra, making urination painful and
difficult.
• Bulbourethral glands are pea-sized organs that lie
posterior to the prostate on either side of the urethra.
Their secretion makes the seminal fl uid gelatinous.
• Each component of seminal fluid seems to have a particular
function. Sperm are more viable in a basic solution; seminal
fluid, milky in appearance, has a slightly basic pH (about
7.5). Swimming sperm require energy; and seminal fl uid
contains the sugar fructose, which presumably serves as an
energy source. Semen also contains prostaglandins,
chemicals that cause the uterus to contract. Some
investigators believe that uterine contractions help propel
the sperm toward the egg.
Male Gonads: The Testes

• The testes, which produce sperm and also the male sex
hormones, lie outside the abdominal cavity of the male, within
the scrotum. The testes begin their development inside the
abdominal cavity. They descend into the scrotal sacs through the
inguinal canal during the last two months of fetal development.
• If the testes do not descend and the male is not treated or
operated on to place the testes in the scrotum, sterility (the
inability to produce offspring) usually follows.
• This is because the internal temperature of the body is too high
to produce viable sperm. The scrotum helps regulate the
temperature of the testes by holding them closer to or farther
away from the body.
Seminiferous Tubules

• A longitudinal section of a testis shows that it is

composed of compartments called lobules, each
of which contains one to three tightly coiled
seminiferous tubules
• microscopic cross section of a seminiferous
tubule reveals that it is packed with cells
undergoing spermatogenesis; the production
of sperm.
• During the production of sperm, spermatogonia divide to
produce primary spermatocytes (2n). Primary spermatocytes
move away from the outer wall, increase in size, and undergo
meiosis I to produce secondary spermatocytes.
• Each secondary spermatocyte has only 23 chromosomes;
Secondary spermatocytes (n) undergo meiosis II to produce
four spermatids, each of which also has 23 chromosomes.
Spermatids then develop into sperm.
• Note the presence of Sertoli cells (purple), which
support, nourish, and regulate the process of
spermatogenesis. It takes approximately 74 days for sperm to
undergo development from spermatogonia to sperm.
• Mature sperm, or spermatozoa, have three
distinct parts: a head, a middle piece, and a tail.
Mitochondria in the middle piece provide energy for
the movement of the tail, which is a fl agellum. The
head contains a nucleus covered by a cap called the
acrosome, which stores enzymes needed to
penetrate the egg.
• The ejaculated semen of a normal human male
contains several hundred million sperm, but only one
sperm normally enters an egg. Sperm usually do not
live more than 48 hours in the female genital tract.
• Interstitial Cells The male sex hormones, the
androgens, are secreted by cells that lie between
the seminiferous tubules. These cells are called
interstitial cells. The most important of
the androgens is testosterone, whose
functions are discussed next.
Hormonal Regulation in Males

• The hypothalamus has ultimate control of the testes’ sexual

function because it secretes a hormone called
gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). GnRH
stimulates
• the anterior pituitary to secrete the gonadotropic hormones.
There are two gonadotropic hormones, folliclestimulating
hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone
• (LH), which are present in both males and females.
In males, FSH promotes the production of sperm in the
seminiferous tubules. LH in males controls the production of
testosterone by the interstitial cells.
• All these hormones are involved in a negative feedback
relationship that maintains the fairly constant production. of
sperm and testosterone . When the amount of testosterone in the
blood rises to a certain level, it causes the hypothalamus and
anterior pituitary to decrease their respective secretion of GnRH
and LH. As the level of testosterone begins to fall, the
hypothalamus increases its secretion of GnRH and the anterior
pituitary increases its secretion of LH.
• These stimulate the interstitial cells to produce testosterone. A
similar feedback mechanism maintains the continuous
production of sperm. The Sertoli cells in the wall of the
seminiferous tubules produce a hormone called inhibin that
blocks GnRH and FSH secretion when appropriate.
• Testosterone, the main sex hormone in males, is essential for the
normal development and functioning of the organs.
• Testosterone also brings about and maintains the male secondary sex
characteristics that develop at the time of puberty. Males are generally
taller than females and have broader shoulders and longer legs relative to
trunk length
• The deeper voices of males compared with those of females are due to a
larger larynx with longer vocal cords. The so-called Adam’s apple, part of
the larynx, is usually more prominent I males than in females.
• Testosterone causes males to develop noticeable hair on the face, chest, and
occasionally other regions of the body, such as the back. A related chemical
also leads to the receding hairline and male-pattern baldness that occur in
males. Testosterone is responsible for the greater muscular development in
males. Knowing this, both males and females sometimes take anabolic
steroids, either testosterone or related steroid hormones resembling
testosterone.
• Health problems involving the kidneys, the cardiovascular system, and
hormonal imbalances can arise from such use.
THANK YOU