The 3′, 5′-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) dependent protein kinase (PKA) is a tetrameric holoenzyme comprising a set of two regulatory subunits (PKA-R) and two catalytic (PKA-C) subunits. The PKA-R subunits act as sensors of cAMP and allow PKA-C activity. One of the first signaling events observed during mammalian sperm capacitation is PKA activation. Thus, understanding how PKA activity is restricted in space and time is crucial to decipher the critical steps of sperm capacitation. It is widely accepted that PKA specificity depends on several levels of regulation. Anchoring proteins play a pivotal role in achieving proper localization signaling, subcellular targeting and cAMP microdomains. These multi-factorial regulation steps are necessary for a precise spatio-temporal activation of PKA. Here we discuss recent understanding of regulatory mechanisms of PKA in mammalian sperm, such as post-translational modifications, in the context of its role as the master orchestrator of molecular events conducive to capacitation.

3'，5'-环磷酸腺苷（cAMP）依赖性蛋白激酶（PKA）是四聚体全酶，包含一组两个调节亚基（PKA-R）和两个催化（PKA-C）亚基。PKA-R亚基充当cAMP的传感器并允许PKA-C活性。在哺乳动物精子获能过程中观察到的第一个信号转导事件之一是PKA激活。因此，了解PKA活性如何在空间和时间上受到限制对于破译精子获能的关键步骤至关重要。普遍接受的是，PKA的特异性取决于多种调控水平。锚定蛋白在实现适当的定位信号，亚细胞靶向和cAMP微结构域中起关键作用。这些多因素调节步骤对于PKA的精确时空激活是必需的。