肝素或钙离子载体诱导牛、羊冻精体外获能的研究

本文采用肝素或钙离子载体(I-A)诱导牛、羊冻精体外获能,根据对去透明带仓鼠卵的穿透情况评定获能效果,并用台盼蓝·姬姆萨(TG)染色观察了精子的死活及顶体状态.结果发现,牛、羊冻精经肝素或I-A处理后与卵子一起培养,2 h穿透仓鼠卵,4 h开始形成雄原核,6 h形成发育良好的雄原核.牛冻精用50μg/mL肝素及0.1μmol/L I-A处理效果最好,穿透率分别为72.8％和92.3％;羊则以20μg/mL肝素及0.3μmol/L I-A为宜,穿透率分别为73.1％和68.O％.咖啡因与I-A或肝素并用均有协同作用,能提高精子的穿透能力,并能促进卵内原核的发育.肝素和I-A均能在体外诱导牛、羊冻精的顶体反应,有顶体反应活精子百分率与穿透率呈强正相关,羊冻精比较脆弱,获能处理后活力较低.     

miRNA在哺乳动物配子发生中的作用研究进展

哺乳动物配子发生的基因表达调控包括编码基因的阶段特异性表达调控及非编码基因的转录和转录后水平调控。微小RNA(microRNA, miRNA)作为一类小的非编码RNA, 通过识别靶基因非翻译区的结合位点, 导致mRNA降解或者蛋白质翻译抑制, 从而在转录后水平发挥调控作用。近年来, miRNA在哺乳动物生殖活动中的作用逐渐被揭示, 越来越多的研究表明, miRNA在哺乳动物精子发生、精子成熟、卵母细胞成熟、卵泡发育及早期胚胎发育等过程中都发挥着重要的调节作用, 其可通过调节支持细胞的增殖和凋亡或精原细胞、精母细胞及精细胞的细胞周期进程, 在精子发生的不同阶段发挥间接或直接调控作用, 也可通过调节卵母细胞、卵丘细胞以及颗粒细胞的增殖、凋亡、激素合成和细胞间作用, 对卵母细胞的发育和成熟过程进行调控。作者主要介绍了在哺乳动物配子发生过程中, miRNA的细胞和阶段特异性表达及其对靶基因的调节作用, 以期为深入研究哺乳动物配子发生的调控机制提供参考。     

牛精液冷冻保护剂研究进展

牛的人工授精技术是目前应用最为广泛的动物繁殖技术之一,对牛的遗传改良做出了巨大贡献。但是,在冷冻一解冻过程中仍然有大约40％～50％的精子失去活性,限制良种公牛种用性能的发挥。论文在分析精子冷冻保存原理的基础上,阐述了渗透性、非渗透性冷冻保护剂以及低密度脂蛋白对牛精子的冷冻保护作用,以期为开发新型冷冻保护剂的研究提供一定参考,进一步提升牛冷冻精液的质量。     

Acquisition of the potential for sperm motility in steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss): effect of pH on dynein ATPase

Salmonid sperm pre-incubated at extracellular pH (pH_e) values less than about 7.4 do not become motile upon water activation whereas sperm maintained above about pH 8.0 demonstrate maximal motility upon activation. The basis for this permissive effect of elevated pH_e on sperm motility is not known. Since it is conceivable that the pH sensitivity of dyneinATPase (the molecular motor that drives flagellar movement) could be the basis of, or contribute to this pH dependency, the pH sensitivity of this enzymatic activity was evaluated in membrane-permeabilized axonemes (isolated flagella) ofsteelhead sperm. DyneinATPase activity was found to be sensitive to pH. This activity in permeabilized axonemes was about 3.5-fold higher at pH 7.6 compared to 7.0. To determine whether the pH sensitivity ofATP regeneration might affect the interpretation of the effect of pH on dyneinATPase activity, the pH sensitivities of creatine kinase and adenylate kinase were established. The rates ofATP generation by these enzymes were insensitive to pH between 6.5 and 8.0. The results of these studies are consistent with the hypothesis that prior maintenance at pH_e, in part, controls the potential for sperm motility upon water activation via an influence on dyneinATPase activity. However, the potential for motility ofsteelhead sperm is particularly sensitive to prior maintenance at pH_e values between about 7.4 and 8.0 whereas the dyneinATPase activity of permeabilized axonemes was particularly sensitive to pH values between 7.0 and 7.6. Phosphorus NMR spectroscopy was used to determine that sperm intracellular pH (pH_i) increased with increasing pH_e between 7.0 and 8.5 and pH_i was, on average 0.4–0.5 pH units lower than pH_e. Therefore the pH_e sensitivity of the potential for motility appears to correspond to the pH_i sensitivity of dyneinATPase activity. The data indicate that pH_i is directly related to pH_e and that prior incubation at pH_e may, in part, control the sperm's potential for motility upon water activation via an influence on dyneinATPase activity.     

Mechanochemical properties of ordinary and dark muscle myosins from seawater fish

Myosin was isolated from two types of muscle, ordinary and dark muscles, of three species of fish living in sea water. The compositions of light chains were visualized by sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), and the mechanochemical activity was examined by in vitro motility and ATPase assays. Ordinary muscle myosin of either species had three species of light chain, whereas dark muscle myosin had another two species of light chain judged by SDS-PAGE. Sliding velocity of ordinary muscle myosin was in the range of 4.92–6.89 μm/S, whereas that of dark muscle myosin was in the range of 3.07–4.25 μm/s. Therefore, ordinary muscle myosin showed 1.26–1.95 times higher sliding velocity than dark muscle myosin in either species. The ratios of V_max of actin-activated Mg²⁺-ATPase activity of ordinary to dark muscle myosins were correlated quite well to the ratios of sliding velocity. Activity of ordinary muscle myosin was comparable to that of mammalian fast muscle myosin, but that of dark muscle myosin was twice of that of mammalian slow muscle myosin. These results may reflect the essential role of fish dark muscle myosin always used in slow cruising.     

Viability of Extended Goat Semen Stored at Refrigerated Condition

Due to the small volume of goat semen ejaculate, just a few doses of goat semen were produced when the sperm concentration is 100 × 10^/mL. The study was aimed to determine the viability of extended goat semen at refrigerated condition at 5 ℃ using varying sperm concentrations and evaluated if sperm concentration lower than 100 × 10^6/mL would affect the motility, viability and sperm morphology at refrigerated condition. Using an artificial vagina, ejaculated goat semen was collected from goat semen donor aged 1.5 year. Physical evaluation of the collected semen showed an average volume of 0.54 mL, mean pH of 6.8 and a milky white color with thick consistency indicative of high concentration. Fresh goat semen had an initial average of 76% with an average initial sperm concentration of 128 × 10^/mL. The semen was divided into four treatments： sperm concentration of 100× 10^/mL, 75 × 10^/mL, 50 × 10^/mL and 25 × 10^/mL, and were stored at 5 ℃ for a period of 10 d. The semen evaluation was performed for each of the four treatments every other day. Results showed that the sperm concentration of spermatozoa affected the duration of storage based on the sperm motility percentage, viability and morphology of spermatozoa. The extended goat semen with sperm concentration of 25 and 50 million sperm/mL is optimal for storage within 6 d that gave satisfactory percentage motile, viable and morphologically normal spermatozoa.     

利用分离的奶牛X精子冷冻精液生产体内性控胚胎试验

采用常规精液和分离的X精子冷冻精液对115头超数排卵的青年和经产荷斯坦母牛人工输精生产体内性控胚胎。结果表明,利用2支和3支性控精液给超排青年母牛输精,头均分别获得6.8枚±4.8枚和6.3枚±3.2枚可用胚胎,与常规精液的超排效果(7.2枚±5.2枚)无明显差异;利用2支和3支性控精液给超排经产母牛输精,头均可用胚胎分别为7.5枚±4.5枚和8.6枚±5.6枚,与常规精液的超排效果(6.1枚±3.2枚)相比,分别增加23%(P>0.05)和41%(P>0.05),无显著差异,但解冻后性控精子会明显影响经产母牛的受精率;对用性控精液输精生产的12枚抽样胚胎采用LAMP法进行性别鉴定并移植,结果获得了91.7%的雌性率和36.4%的受胎率。结果提示,X精子的分离过程会在一定程度上影响受精率,用分离的X精子冷冻精液对超排母牛进行人工授精生产体内性控胚胎是可行的。     

Effect of lactoferrin on murine embryo development created from lipopolysaccharide-treated sperm

The effect of lactoferrin (LF) on embryo development was investigated by using lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated mouse sperm. For the development rate of the 2-cell stage embryo, the embryo derived from LPS- and LF-treated sperm showed similar survival rate to the control embryo. On day 12 after the embryo transfer into the recipient, the frequent abnormality was observed in the embryo derived from LPS-treated sperm, and the abnormality was tended to be inhibited in the embryo derived from LPS- and LF-treated sperm. These results imply that LF treatment on sperm contaminated with bacteria may facilitate the embryo development, which contribute to the improvement of infertility.     

Plasma membrane of trout spermatozoa: I. Isolation and partial characterization

The plasma membrane from spermatozoa of rainbow trout was isolated by four techniques: sonication, hypotonic shock, mechanical homogenization after freeze-thawing, and nitrogen cavitation, in combination with continuous sucrose gradient centrifugation. Nitrogen cavitation (900 PSI, 20 min equilibration at 4°C) was the most effective technique.Following nitrogen cavitation, four bands were recovered in the sucrose gradient at densities 1.03, 1.05, 1.09 and 1.15 g/ml. Electron microscopy revealed membrane vesicles of various sizes in bands 1 to 3, while enzyme analysis revealed a 3.9 to 5.5-fold enrichment in 5'-nucleotidase and little contamination by lactate dehydrogenase (cytosol) and succinic dehydrogenase (mitochondria). Lipid analysis of bands 1 and 2 indicated a 6 to 7-fold enrichment in cholesterol and a cholesterol: phospholipid ratio of 0.59–0.70. Seven classes of phospholipids were present in bands 1–3 with no significant differences observed among bands. These data indicate that the vesicles (in bands 1 and 2) obtained after nitrogen cavitation are primarily plasma membranes. Membranes in band 3 appear to be slightly contaminated with nuclear membranes.Most of the plasma membrane proteins were acidic to neutral. The 2 main membrane proteins were 42 and 30 Kilodaltons.