Interrelationships Between Apoptosis and Fertility in Bull Sperm

Overview

Journal J Reprod Dev

Specialties Biology
Reproductive Medicine

Date 2012 Sep 19

PMID 22986927

Citations 12

Authors

Sule Dogan

Melissa C Mason

Aruna Govindaraju

Lauren Belser

Abdullah Kaya

John Stokes

Dennis Rowe

Erdogan Memili

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Male fertility, the ability of sperm to fertilize and activate the egg and support early embryogenesis, is vital for mammalian reproduction. Despite producing adequate numbers of sperm with normal motility and morphology, some males suffer from low fertility whose molecular mechanisms are not known. The objective was to determine apoptosis in sperm from high and low fertility bulls and its relationship with male fertility. DNA damage, phosphatidylserine (PS) translocation, and expression of pro- and anti-apoptotic proteins (BAX and BCL-2) in the sperm were determined using TUNEL, Annexin V, and immunoblotting approaches, respectively. Amounts of apoptotic spermatozoa were 2.86 (± 1.31) and 3.00 (± 0.96) in high and low fertility bulls, respectively (P=0.548), and were not correlated with fertility. There was a negative correlation between early necrotic spermatozoa and viable spermatozoa (r = -0.99, P<0.0001). Fertility scores were correlated with live spermatozoa detected by eosin-nigrosin test and necrotic spermatozoa determined via flow cytometry (r = -0.49, P<0.006 and r = -0.266, P<0.0113, respectively). BAX level was higher in low fertile group than high fertile group; however, this difference was not statistically significant due to the variations of bull samples (Bull 1-3 vs. Bull 4-5) in low fertile group (P<0.283). BCL-2 was not detectable in any of the sperm samples. The results shed light onto molecular and cellular underpinnings of male fertility.

Citing Articles

The Role of Erythropoietin in Bovine Sperm Physiology.

Sapanidou V, Asimakopoulos B, Lialiaris T, Lavrentiadou S, Feidantsis K, Kourousekos G Animals (Basel). 2024; 14(15).

PMID: 39123702 PMC: 11311055. DOI: 10.3390/ani14152175.

Biomarker-based human and animal sperm phenotyping: the good, the bad and the ugly†.

Sutovsky P, Hamilton L, Zigo M, Ortiz DAvila Assumpcao M, Jones A, Tirpak F Biol Reprod. 2024; 110(6):1135-1156.

PMID: 38640912 PMC: 11180624. DOI: 10.1093/biolre/ioae061.

Detection of Protein Biomarkers Relevant to Sperm Characteristics and Fertility in Semen in Three Wild Felidae: The Flat-Headed Cat (), Fishing Cat (), and Asiatic Golden Cat ().

Wittayarat M, Kiatsomboon S, Kupthammasan N, Tipkantha W, Yimprasert S, Thongphakdee A Animals (Basel). 2024; 14(7).

PMID: 38612267 PMC: 11011130. DOI: 10.3390/ani14071027.

Effect of sulforaphane on long-term storage of rabbit semen.

Akarsu S, Gungor I, Cihangiroglu A, Acisu T, Koca R, Turk G Anim Reprod. 2023; 20(2):e20230001.

PMID: 37293253 PMC: 10247182. DOI: 10.1590/1984-3143-AR2023-0001.

Application of ultrasound technique to evaluate the testicular function and its correlation to the sperm quality after different collection frequency in rams.

Montes-Garrido R, Riesco M, Anel-Lopez L, Neila-Montero M, Palacin-Martinez C, Boixo J Front Vet Sci. 2022; 9:1035036.

PMID: 36504850 PMC: 9732105. DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2022.1035036.

References

Reed J . Proapoptotic multidomain Bcl-2/Bax-family proteins: mechanisms, physiological roles, and therapeutic opportunities. Cell Death Differ. 2006; 13(8):1378-86. DOI: 10.1038/sj.cdd.4401975. View

Waterhouse K, Haugan T, Kommisrud E, Tverdal A, Flatberg G, Farstad W . Sperm DNA damage is related to field fertility of semen from young Norwegian Red bulls. Reprod Fertil Dev. 2006; 18(7):781-8. DOI: 10.1071/rd06029. View

Laemmli U . Cleavage of structural proteins during the assembly of the head of bacteriophage T4. Nature. 1970; 227(5259):680-5. DOI: 10.1038/227680a0. View

Khan D, Ahmad N, Anzar M, Channa A . Apoptosis in fresh and cryopreserved buffalo sperm. Theriogenology. 2008; 71(5):872-6. DOI: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2008.09.056. View

Marchetti C, Obert G, Deffosez A, Formstecher P, Marchetti P . Study of mitochondrial membrane potential, reactive oxygen species, DNA fragmentation and cell viability by flow cytometry in human sperm. Hum Reprod. 2002; 17(5):1257-65. DOI: 10.1093/humrep/17.5.1257. View

Peddinti D, Nanduri B, Kaya A, Feugang J, Burgess S, Memili E . Comprehensive proteomic analysis of bovine spermatozoa of varying fertility rates and identification of biomarkers associated with fertility. BMC Syst Biol. 2008; 2:19. PMC: 2291030. DOI: 10.1186/1752-0509-2-19. View

Zwald N, Weigel K, Chang Y, Welper R, Clay J . Genetic selection for health traits using producer-recorded data. II. Genetic correlations, disease probabilities, and relationships with existing traits. J Dairy Sci. 2004; 87(12):4295-302. DOI: 10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(04)73574-2. View

Woolveridge I, Bryden A, Taylor M, George N, Wu F, Morris I . Apoptosis and expression of apoptotic regulators in the human testis following short- and long-term anti-androgen treatment. Mol Hum Reprod. 1998; 4(7):701-7. DOI: 10.1093/molehr/4.7.701. View

Weng S, Taylor S, Morshedi M, Schuffner A, Duran E, Beebe S . Caspase activity and apoptotic markers in ejaculated human sperm. Mol Hum Reprod. 2002; 8(11):984-91. DOI: 10.1093/molehr/8.11.984. View

10.

Oltvai Z, Korsmeyer S . Checkpoints of dueling dimers foil death wishes. Cell. 1994; 79(2):189-92. DOI: 10.1016/0092-8674(94)90188-0. View

11.

Nur Z, Zik B, Ustuner B, Sagirkaya H, Ozguden C . Effects of different cryoprotective agents on ram sperm morphology and DNAintegrity. Theriogenology. 2010; 73(9):1267-75. DOI: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2009.12.007. View

12.

Setchell B, Docchio M, Hall M, Laurie M, Tucker M, Zupp J . Is embryonic mortality increased in normal female rats mated to subfertile males?. J Reprod Fertil. 1988; 82(2):567-74. DOI: 10.1530/jrf.0.0820567. View

13.

Benchaib M, Braun V, Lornage J, Hadj S, Salle B, Lejeune H . Sperm DNA fragmentation decreases the pregnancy rate in an assisted reproductive technique. Hum Reprod. 2003; 18(5):1023-8. DOI: 10.1093/humrep/deg228. View

14.

Hendricks K, Hansen P . Can programmed cell death be induced in post-ejaculatory bull and stallion spermatozoa?. Theriogenology. 2009; 71(7):1138-46. DOI: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2008.12.006. View

15.

Chaveiro A, Santos P, Silva F . Assessment of sperm apoptosis in cryopreserved bull semen after swim-up treatment: a flow cytometric study. Reprod Domest Anim. 2007; 42(1):17-21. DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0531.2006.00712.x. View

16.

Blaschek M, Kaya A, Zwald N, Memili E, Kirkpatrick B . A whole-genome association analysis of noncompensatory fertility in Holstein bulls. J Dairy Sci. 2011; 94(9):4695-9. DOI: 10.3168/jds.2010-3728. View

17.

Martin G, Sabido O, Durand P, Levy R . Cryopreservation induces an apoptosis-like mechanism in bull sperm. Biol Reprod. 2004; 71(1):28-37. DOI: 10.1095/biolreprod.103.024281. View

18.

Said T, Gaglani A, Agarwal A . Implication of apoptosis in sperm cryoinjury. Reprod Biomed Online. 2010; 21(4):456-62. DOI: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2010.05.011. View

19.

Pena F, Rodriguez Martinez H, Tapia J, Ferrusola C, Gonzalez Fernandez L, Macias Garcia B . Mitochondria in mammalian sperm physiology and pathology: a review. Reprod Domest Anim. 2009; 44(2):345-9. DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0531.2008.01211.x. View

20.

Chen W, Xu P, Gottlob K, Chen M, SOKOL K, Shiyanova T . Growth retardation and increased apoptosis in mice with homozygous disruption of the Akt1 gene. Genes Dev. 2001; 15(17):2203-8. PMC: 312770. DOI: 10.1101/gad.913901. View