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Arroyo-Salvo C, Río S, Bogetti ME, Plaza J, Miragaya M, Yaneff A, Davio C, Fissore R, Gervasi MG, Gambini A, Perez-Martinez S. Effect of bicarbonate and polyvinyl alcohol on in vitro capacitation and fertilization ability of cryopreserved equine spermatozoa. Andrology 2024. [PMID: 38804843 DOI: 10.1111/andr.13667] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2023] [Revised: 04/26/2024] [Accepted: 05/11/2024] [Indexed: 05/29/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Factors contributing to the limited success of in vitro fertilization in horses remain to be studied. In this work, we elucidated the effect of different essential capacitation media components, bicarbonate, and bovine serum albumin or polyvinyl-alcohol, and the incubation microenvironment on sperm parameters associated with capacitation, acrosome reaction, and their ability to activate oocytes via heterologous intracytoplasmic spermatozoa injection in equine cryopreserved spermatozoa. METHODS Frozen-thawed spermatozoa underwent incubation at different time intervals in either Tyrode's albumin lactate pyruvate medium (non-capacitating; NC) or Tyrode's albumin lactate pyruvate supplemented with bicarbonate, bicarbonate and polyvinyl-alcohol, bicarbonate and bovine serum albumin, polyvinyl-alcohol and bovine serum albumin alone. Protein kinase A-phosphorylated substrates and tyrosine phosphorylation levels, sperm motility, and acrosome reaction percentages were evaluated. After determining the best condition media (capacitating; CAP), heterologous intracytoplasmic spermatozoa injection on pig oocytes was performed and the phospholipase C zeta sperm localization pattern was evaluated. RESULTS Incubation of frozen-thawed equine spermatozoa with bicarbonate and polyvinyl-alcohol in atmospheric air for 45 min induced an increase in protein kinase A-phosphorylated substrates and tyrosine phosphorylation levels compared to NC condition. Sperm incubation in bicarbonate and polyvinyl-alcohol medium showed an increase in total motility and progressive motility with respect to NC (p ≤ 0.05). Interestingly, three parameters associated with sperm hyperactivation were modulated under bicarbonate and polyvinyl-alcohol conditions. The kinematic parameters curvilinear velocity and amplitude of lateral head displacement significantly increased, while straightness significantly diminished (curvilinear velocity: bicarbonate and polyvinyl-alcohol = 120.9 ± 2.9 vs. NC = 76.91 ± 6.9 µm/s) (amplitude of lateral head displacement: bicarbonate and polyvinyl-alcohol = 1.15 ± 0.02 vs. NC = 0.77 ± 0.03 µm) (straightness: bicarbonate and polyvinyl-alcohol = 0.76 ± 0.01 vs. NC = 0.87 ± 0.02) (p ≤ 0.05). Moreover, the spontaneous acrosome reaction significantly increased in spermatozoa incubated in this condition. Finally, bicarbonate and polyvinyl-alcohol medium was established as CAP medium. Although no differences were found in phospholipase C zeta localization pattern in spermatozoa incubated under CAP, equine spermatozoa pre-incubated in CAP condition for 45 min showed higher fertilization rates when injected into matured pig oocytes (NC: 47.6% vs. CAP 76.5%; p ≤ 0.05). CONCLUSION These findings underscore the importance of bicarbonate and polyvinyl-alcohol in supporting critical events associated with in vitro sperm capacitation in the horse, resulting in higher oocyte activation percentages following heterologous intracytoplasmic spermatozoa injection. This protocol could have an impact on reproductive efficiency in the equine breeding industry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camila Arroyo-Salvo
- Centro de Estudios Farmacológicos y Botánicos (CEFYBO), CONICET-UBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Sofía Río
- Centro de Estudios Farmacológicos y Botánicos (CEFYBO), CONICET-UBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - María Eugenia Bogetti
- Centro de Estudios Farmacológicos y Botánicos (CEFYBO), CONICET-UBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Jessica Plaza
- Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad de Buenos Aires, INITRA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Marcelo Miragaya
- Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad de Buenos Aires, INITRA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Agustín Yaneff
- Instituto de Investigaciones Farmacológicas (ININFA-UBA-CONICET), Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Carlos Davio
- Instituto de Investigaciones Farmacológicas (ININFA-UBA-CONICET), Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Rafael Fissore
- Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
| | - María Gracia Gervasi
- Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Animal Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA
| | - Andrés Gambini
- School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability, The University of Queensland, Gatton, Queensland, Australia
| | - Silvina Perez-Martinez
- Centro de Estudios Farmacológicos y Botánicos (CEFYBO), CONICET-UBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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The stallion sperm acrosome: Considerations from a research and clinical perspective. Theriogenology 2023; 196:121-149. [PMID: 36413868 DOI: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2022.11.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2022] [Revised: 11/02/2022] [Accepted: 11/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
During the fertilization process, the interaction between the sperm and the oocyte is mediated by a process known as acrosomal exocytosis (AE). Although the role of the sperm acrosome on fertilization has been studied extensively over the last 70 years, little is known about the molecular mechanisms that govern acrosomal function, particularly in species other than mice or humans. Even though subfertility due to acrosomal dysfunction is less common in large animals than in humans, the evaluation of sperm acrosomal function should be considered not only as a complementary but a routine test when individuals are selected for breeding potential. This certainly holds true for stallions, which might display lower levels of fertility in the face of "acceptable" sperm quality parameters determined by conventional sperm assays. Nowadays, the use of high throughput technologies such as flow cytometry or mass spectrometry-based proteomic analysis is commonplace in the research arena. Such techniques can also be implemented in clinical scenarios of males with "idiopathic" subfertility. The current review focuses on the sperm acrosome, with particular emphasis on the stallion. We aim to describe the physiological events that lead to the acrosome formation within the testis, the role of very specific acrosomal proteins during AE, the methods to study the occurrence of AE under in vitro conditions, and the potential use of molecular biology techniques to discover new markers of acrosomal function and subfertility associated with acrosomal dysfunction in stallions.
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