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Hou Y, Peng J, Hong L, Wu Z, Zheng E, Li Z. Gender Control of Mouse Embryos by Activation of TLR7/8 on X Sperm via Ligands dsRNA-40 and dsRNA-DR. Molecules 2024; 29:262. [PMID: 38202845 PMCID: PMC10780660 DOI: 10.3390/molecules29010262] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2023] [Revised: 12/27/2023] [Accepted: 12/29/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Gender control technologies are promising for enhancing the production efficiency of the farm animal industry, and preventing sex-linked hereditary diseases in humans. It has been shown that the X sperm of mammalian animals specifically expresses X-chromosome-derived toll-like receptor 7/8 (TLR7/8), and the activation of TLR7/8 on the X sperm by their agonist, R848, can separate X and Y sperm via the specific inhibition of X sperm motility. The use of R848-preselected sperm for fertilization resulted in sex-ratio-skewed embryos or offspring. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether two other TLR7/8 ligands, double-stranded RNA-40 (dsRNA-40) and double-stranded RNA-DR (dsRNA-DR), are also effective in the separation of mouse X and Y sperm and the subsequent generation of gender-ratio-skewed in vitro fertilization (IVF) embryos. Our results indicated that cholesterol modification significantly enhances the transfection of dsRNA-40 and dsRNA-DR into sperm cells. dsRNA-40 and dsRNA-DR incubation with mouse sperm could separate X and Y sperm by the specific suppression of X sperm motility by decreasing its ATP level and mitochondrial activity. The use of a dsRNA-40- or dsRNA-DR-preselected upper layer of sperm, which predominantly contains high-motility Y sperm, for IVF caused a male-biased sex ratio shift in resulting embryos (with 65.90-74.93% of embryos being male). This study develops a simple new method for the efficient separation of mammalian X and Y sperm, enabling the selective production of male or female progenies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yunfei Hou
- National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
- State Key Laboratory of Swine and Poultry Breeding Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
- National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Livestock and Poultry Breeding Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
- Department of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
| | - Jingfeng Peng
- National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
- State Key Laboratory of Swine and Poultry Breeding Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
- National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Livestock and Poultry Breeding Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
- Department of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
| | - Linjun Hong
- National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
- State Key Laboratory of Swine and Poultry Breeding Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
- National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Livestock and Poultry Breeding Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
- Department of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
| | - Zhenfang Wu
- National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
- State Key Laboratory of Swine and Poultry Breeding Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
- National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Livestock and Poultry Breeding Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
- Department of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
- Guangdong Provincial Laboratory of Lingnan Modern Agricultural Science and Technology, Guangzhou 510642, China
| | - Enqin Zheng
- National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
- State Key Laboratory of Swine and Poultry Breeding Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
- National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Livestock and Poultry Breeding Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
- Department of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
| | - Zicong Li
- National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
- State Key Laboratory of Swine and Poultry Breeding Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
- National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Livestock and Poultry Breeding Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
- Department of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
- Guangdong Provincial Laboratory of Lingnan Modern Agricultural Science and Technology, Guangzhou 510642, China
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