长期低浓度七氟醚吸入对雄性小鼠生殖功能的影响

目的:探讨长期低浓度七氟醚吸入对雄性小鼠生殖功能的影响。方法:雄性C57小鼠20只随机分为吸醚组和对照组,吸醚组给予连续45 d,每天4 h吸入0.2%七氟醚。吸醚第36 d起每只雄性小鼠与4只雌性小鼠合笼交配。合笼结束后,雄性小鼠称重,计算睾丸指数,观察睾丸形态学变化,检测附睾精子活力和血清激素水平,统计子代小鼠数量和性别比例。结果:长期低浓度七氟醚吸入后雄性小鼠体重增长明显减少,精子活力显著降低,血清卵泡刺激素(FSH),促黄体生成素(LH),瘦素(LEP)显著升高,雄激素(T)水平无显著差异。雌性小鼠受孕率、子代数量及性别比例无显著差异。结论:长期低浓度七氟醚吸入对雄性小鼠具有一定的生殖毒性,影响其血清激素水平和精子活力,但受孕率和子代性别比无显著差异。     

L-carnitine is a survival factor for chilled storage of rooster semen for a long time

Rooster sperm is sensitive to cooling, which restricts procedures to store sperms for extended periods of time for artificial insemination of commercial flocks. This study was conducted to evaluate the suitability of adding L-carnitine (LC) to chilled-storage of rooster sperm and its effects on sperm quality parameters and its fertility potential during storage at 5 °C. Pooled semen from roosters were divided into six equal aliquots and diluted with media supplemented with different concentrations of LC (0, 0.5, 1, 2, 4 and 8 mM LC). Diluted semen samples were cooled to 5 °C and stored over 48 h. Motility, viability, membrane functionality, lipid peroxidation and mitochondria activity of the sperm were assessed at 0, 24 and 48 h of storage. Moreover, fertility potential of chilled stored sperm was considered at 24 h of storage. While sperm quality was not affected by LC at the beginning of storage (0 h), supplementation of extender with 1 and 2 mM of LC significantly improved the percentage of sperm motility, viability, membrane integrity and mitochondria activity at 24 h and 48 h compared to other groups. Lipid peroxidation was significantly reduced in sperm samples diluted with 1 and 2 mM LC at 24 h (2.15 ± 0.52 nmol/ml and 2.21 ± 0.52 nmol/ml) and 48 h (3.42 ± 0.49 nmol/ml and 3.38 ± 0.49 nmol/ml) compared to other groups. Furthermore, fertility rates during artificial insemination using sperms cooled for 24 h in the presence of 1 and 2 mM LC were significantly higher (78%) than in the control group (64%). These findings suggest that optimum doses of LC could protect rooster sperm against cool storage-induced functional and structural damages.     

染色质在非洲爪蟾卵的无细胞系统中形成组装核的研究

从大鼠肝、鸡肝提取了染色质并从受精未孵育鸡蛋胚下表层卵黄颗粒提取了染色质,在荧光显微镜和电子显微镜下观察了这些染色质在无细胞系统中形成的组装核;研究二阶钙镁离子对形成组装核的影响。在有ＡＴＰ再生系统存在的无细胞系统中,围绕染色质能形成与间期细胞核相似的组装核;二价钙离子不利于形成组装核,而二价镁离子是形成组装核所必须的,但过高浓度的镁离子对形成组装核有抑制作用。     

乳酸脱氢酶C4的精子免疫荧光定位特性

用１４个抗小鼠ＬＤＨ－Ｃ４的单克隆抗体对小鼠、树鼯和人精子的ＬＤＨ－Ｃ４进行了间接免疫荧光定位。结果显示：不同的单抗可以结合到小鼠精子表面不同的位置，其中ＰＡ１（Ｋ０２１）在尾部，ＰＡ２（Ｋ０２２）、ＰＡ４和ＰＡ５（Ｋ０２３）在中段和尾部，ＳＭ１、ＳＭ２和ＰＧ２的中段，ＳＭ３和ＳＭ４在顶体，ＳＭ５在顶体和赤道板。人和树鼯精子表面的ＬＤＨ－Ｃ４也呈现类似的情况。这些研究表明精子表面的ＬＤＨ－Ｃ４呈现     

Synthesis and processing of mammalian protamines and transition proteins

Mouse and rat seminiferous tubule fragment cultures were used to examine synthesis and processing of mammalian protamines and transition proteins. The tubule fragments were incubated with [³H]-arginine, [³H]-histidine, [³⁵S]-cysteine, or [³²P]-PO₄, and radiolabeled proteins were analyzed by acid/urea polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and fluorography or autoradiography. Newly synthesized protamines were recovered from sonication-resistant nuclei (SRN) and could not be detected in cytoplasmic fractions, indicating that protamines are deposited into nuclei immediately after synthesis. Newly synthesized mouse protamine 1 (mP1) and the precursor to mouse protamine 2 (pre-mP2) migrated more slowly during electrophoresis than their predominant testicular forms, identified by staining with Coomassie blue R-250. Within 1 hour of synthesis, the electrophoretic mobilities of mP1 and pre-mP2 increased to match those of their predominant forms. These changes are consistent with initial charge-neutralizing modifications of the newly synthesized protamines, followed by removal of at least some of the modifying ligands, to unmask protamine basicity. Steady-state phosphorylation rates were high for rat protamine 1 (rP1) and were independent of phosphate content; both rP1 molecules of low and high phosphate content were rapidly phosphorylated. Pre-mP2-3, a major processing intermediate derived by proteolysis of pre-mP2, was also rapidly phosphorylated. Like the protamines, transition protein 2 (TP2) was rapidly phosphorylated and increased in electrophoretic mobility soon after synthesis. In contrast, transition protein 1 (TP1) was not phosphorylated and did not exhibit multiple electrophoretic forms. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Adverse effects of members of the Enterobacteriaceae family on boar sperm quality

Semen samples collected in 2012 from 1785 boars belonging to five different breeds were recruited from the quality control laboratory of Magapor SL, Spain. These samples came from 43 boar studs and resulted from diluting the ejaculates in commercial semen extenders. Evaluation of the semen sample characteristics (color, smell, pH, osmolality, concentration, motility of sperm cells, agglutination, acrosome integrity, short hypoosmotic swelling test, and abnormal forms) revealed that they met the international standards. The samples were also tested for the presence of aerobic bacterial contamination. In the present study, 14.73% (n = 263) of the semen samples were contaminated above 3 × 10² colony-forming units/mL with at least one type of bacteria. The Enterobacteriaceae family was by far the major contaminant, being present in 40.68% of the contaminated samples (n = 107). Bacterial strains of the Enterobacteriaceae family isolated from boar semen samples were in order of incidence (percentage of the contaminated samples): Serratia marcescens (12.55%), Klebsiella oxytoca (11.79%), Providencia stuartii (9.12%), Morganella morganii (3.80%), Proteus mirabilis (1.90%), and Escherichia coli (1.52%). We have seen that the presence in semen samples of S. marcescens, K. oxytoca, M. morganii, or P. mirabilis, but not P. stuartii or E. coli, was negatively associated with sperm motility (P < 0.05). The mean sperm concentration (P < 0.05), the mean percentage of spermatozoa with curled tails after the short hypoosmotic swelling test (P < 0.01), and the incidence of morphologically normal acrosomes (P < 0.05) were also lower in semen samples infected with M. morganii compared with uninfected ones. Moreover, P. mirabilis was negatively associated with the presence of abnormal forms. Thus, on the basis of the pathological effects that some of these strains may have on boar sperm quality, bacterial contamination should always be examined in semen samples prepared for artificial insemination.     

Influence of different extenders on morphological and functional parameters of frozen-thawed spermatozoa of jaguar (Panthera onca)

Due to the global decrease in jaguar population, conservation strategies are essential and the development of effective semen cryopreservation protocols would contribute to the formation of germplasm banks. Therefore, the objectives were to (1) evaluate the use of TRIS and ACP-117c extenders for jaguar semen freezing, (2) describe the ultrastructural changes in sperm after cryopreservation, and (3) evaluate the binding capacity of the thawed sperm. Eight ejaculates from five mature individuals were collected by electroejaculation, extended in TRIS or a coconut based-extender (ACP-117c), and frozen in liquid nitrogen. Samples were evaluated for sperm motility, vigor, membrane functionality, mitochondrial activity, morphology (using light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy - SEM and transmission electron microscopy - TEM), sperm kinetic parameters (by computerized analysis - CASA), and sperm binding capability using an egg yolk perivitelline membrane assay. Samples preserved in TRIS presented better post-thaw motility (46.0 ± 7.7%) and membrane functionality (60.5 ± 4.2%) and higher mitochondrial activity (21.5 ± 3.7%) than those preserved in ACP-117c (20.9 ± 5.4% motile sperm; 47.1 ± 2.5% functional membrane; 11.8 ± 1.7% mitochondrial activity). Regarding ultrastructural evaluations, SEM showed that both extenders were able to preserve the superficial membrane of the sperm, but TEM revealed the occurrence of nuclear electron lucent points, especially in samples extended in ACP-117c. Additionally, TRIS also provided a higher number of sperm bound to the perivitelline membrane (29.5 ± 3.3%) in comparison to samples diluted in ACP-117c (18.6 ± 1.5%). Overall, we suggest the use of a TRIS-based extender for cryopreservation of jaguar semen.     

Two distinct methods analyzing chromatin structure using centrifugation and antibodies to modified histone H3: both provide similar chromatin states of the Rit1/Bcl11b gene

Chromatin state of a 2-Mb region harboring Rit1/Bcl11b on mouse chromosome 12 was examined using two distinct methods. One is ChIP assay examining the degree of enrichment with histone H3 methylated at lysine 9 (H3-mLys9) in chromatin and the other is H/E (heterochromatin/euchromatin) assay that measures a chromatin condensation state by using centrifugation. The ChIP assay showed that a 50-kb interval covering the gene and an upstream region constituted chromatin enriched with unmethylated H3-mLys9 in cells expressing Rit1 compared to cells not expressing Rit1. In contrast, regions other than the 50-kb interval did not show much difference in the enrichment between the two different types of cells. On the other hand, H/E assay of two expressing and two non-expressing tissues provided compatible fractionation patterns, suggesting that the chromatin condensation state detected by H/E assay is correlated with the chromatin state controlled by histone H3 tail modification linked to gene expression. These results indicate that the centrifugation-based H/E assay should provide a new approach to the regulation of chromatin structure with respect to its condensation state, complementing ChIP assays.