Involvement of the glycoproteic meshwork of cervical mucus in the mechanism of sperm orientation

Chretien, F. C.

doi:10.1034/j.1600-0412.2003.00041.x

Cited by 21 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 26 publications

(37 reference statements)

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“…They found that migration of buck spermatozoa was highly correlated to velocity parameters (VCL and VAP, p < 0.01), and just correlated to VSL (p = 0.05), but kinematic parameters were not correlated with migration in bovine cervical mucus (p > 0.10). The microstructure of mucus as seen in the cervical channel seems to be maintained by its aspiration into flat capillary tubes (Chrétien 2003). The particular ability of spermatozoa to migrate in epithelial mucus seems to rely, at least partially, in the hydrodynamic force as shown by specific kinematic parameters, where VCL and VAP appeared as the most important in rams.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1989; López‐Gatius et al. 1994; Chrétien 2003; Rutllant et al. 2005) as does media with different viscoelastic properties (Suarez and Dai 1992).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The different levels of correlation seen in this study and the study described earlier (Cox et al 2006) between kinematic parameters and sperm migration in cervical mucus from sheep, goats and heifers is consistent with the suggestion by Cox et al (2006) that the relative importance that kinematic parameters have depends on the differential resistance that these mucuses can exert upon the migrating spermatozoa. The mucus microstructure can offer resistance to sperm penetration (Yudin et al 1989;Lo´pez-Gatius et al 1994;Chre´tien 2003;Rutllant et al 2005) as does media with different viscoelastic properties (Suarez and Dai 1992). Under this hypothesis, the more resistance exerted by cervical mucus, the more important become kinematic values for velocity and LIN to confer the ability of spermatozoa to migrate.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1999). As the fibrillar pattern of the mucus aspirated into capillary tubes is similar to that seen in natural cervical mucus (Chrétien 2003), and sperm migration through cervical mucus in vitro is related to the colonization of the UTJ, the in vitro assay can be safely used as an end point to establish the relative importance of sperm kinematic parameters obtained by CASA in defining the migration potential of spermatozoa. In a recent study, Cox et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The sperm migration test using cervical mucus in flat capillars has been developed to assess in vitro the capacity of spermatozoa to migrate in epithelial mucus (Engel and Petzoldt 1999;Tang et al 1999). As the fibrillar pattern of the mucus aspirated into capillary tubes is similar to that seen in natural cervical mucus (Chre´tien 2003), and sperm migration through cervical mucus in vitro is related to the colonization of the UTJ, the in vitro assay can be safely used as an end point to establish the relative importance of sperm kinematic parameters obtained by CASA in defining the migration potential of spermatozoa. In a recent study, Cox et al (2006) found that velocity parameters and linearity (LIN) were related to the ability of buck spermatozoa to migrate in homologous but not in bovine cervical mucus obtained at oestrous.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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CASA Assessment of Kinematic Parameters of Ram Spermatozoa and their Relationship to Migration Efficiency in Ruminant Cervical Mucus

Robayo

Montenegro

Valdés

et al. 2008

Reprod Domestic Animals

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Sperm motility is an indicator of male fertility because of its importance for sperm migration through the female genital tract and for gamete interaction at fertilization. This study analyses the relationship between computer assisted semen analysis (CASA) motility patterns and sperm migration of rams in ruminant cervical mucus. In experiment 1, spermatozoa extended with sperm analysis medium (SAM) and seminal plasma were compared in terms of motility. In experiment 2, 56 semen samples were collected either with artificial vagina (AV) or electroejaculator to be compared in terms of motility performance. In experiment 3, 104 ejaculates collected by AV from 26 males were analysed via the CASA system to characterize their motility patterns. In experiment 4, ejaculates from pairs of rams (20 rams in total) were simultaneously assessed for mucus migration (ovine, caprine, bovine) and motility patterns to evaluate the correlations between both parameters. Semen collected by AV and extended in SAM allows the most reliable assessment for sperm motility. Ram spermatozoa move fast and follow a linear trajectory compared with other ruminants. Continuous line velocity (VCL) and average path velocity (VAP) are the only sperm kinematic parameters that presented significant positive correlations with the ability to migrate in sheep cervical mucus (p < 0.05). Continuous line velocity, VAP, straight line velocity and linearity are highly significantly related with migration efficiency in goat cervical mucus (p < 0.01) and only lateral head displacement is negatively related to sperm migration in bovine cervical mucus (p < 0.05). These results suggest that specific kinematic parameters confer the ability of spermatozoa to colonize and migrate through epithelial mucus with different rheological properties.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1989; López‐Gatius et al. 1994; Chrétien 2003; Rutllant et al. 2005) as does media with different viscoelastic properties (Suarez and Dai 1992).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

CASA Assessment of Kinematic Parameters of Ram Spermatozoa and their Relationship to Migration Efficiency in Ruminant Cervical Mucus

Robayo

Montenegro

Valdés

et al. 2008

Reprod Domestic Animals

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Unsolved Problems in the Locomotion of Mammalian Sperm

Suárez

2012

Natural Locomotion in Fluids and on Surfaces

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The Carbohydrate Structure of DEFB126, the Major Component of the Cynomolgus Macaque Sperm Plasma Membrane Glycocalyx

et al. 2005

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Based on the amino-acid sequence of the macaque epididymal secretory protein, ESP 13.2 (Q9BEE3/AJ236909), it has now been classified as beta-defensin DEFB126. DEFB126 is one of the five beta-defensins with genes that are clustered along chromosome 20pl3, and all five proteins have an extended carboxy terminus that continues beyond the 6-cysteine beta-defensin core region. This 60-amino acid carboxyl tail extension of the DEFB126 molecule is extraordinarily rich in threonine and serine (40%), many of which appear to be likely candidates for having O-glycosylation. DEFB126 has been shown to coat the entire surface of cynomolgus macaque sperm as they move through the corpus/caudal region of the epididymis. It is a major glycocalyx barrier to the external environment and is retained until the completion of capacitation. Sperm exposed to fluorescein-conjugated poly-L-lysine or Alexa488-histone showed a very uniform fluorescent labeling pattern over the entire sperm surface, almost identical to that observed with anti-DEFB126 Ig label. Sperm surface components that were released following treatment with caffeine/cAMP (in vitro capacitation) were blotted and probed with three different lectins which are known to recognize terminal sialic acid residues, and all three recognized the 35 kDa DEFB126 band. Neuraminidase treatment of sperm shifted the molecular weight of DEFB126 from 34-36 kDa to approximately 38-40 kDa and removed or greatly inhibited sialic acid-specific lectin recognition. O-Glycanase treatment alone was ineffective at removal of the oligosaccharides, but prior treatment with neuraminidase was sufficient to enable the O-glycanase treatment to effectively change the apparent molecular weight to 10 kDa, confirming that a major portion of the molecular mass is associated with the carbohydrate portion. Western blots of neuraminidase-treated DEFB126 showed strong recognition with a number of lectins that identify beta-galactose and also lectins that recognize the N-acetylgalactosamine-serine/threonine, the proposed connection site of O-glycosylation. All of the lectins that recognized DEFB126 on Western blots were used to fluorescently probe sperm. The fluorescent patterns that were observed with poly-L-lysine, Alexa488-histone, sialic acid-specific lectins, and galactose-specific lectins showed even distributions over the entire sperm surface and the patterns were identical to sperm labeled with anti-DEFB126 Ig, and all but the antibody did not recognize neuraminidase-treated sperm.

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Involvement of the glycoproteic meshwork of cervical mucus in the mechanism of sperm orientation

Cited by 21 publications

References 26 publications

CASA Assessment of Kinematic Parameters of Ram Spermatozoa and their Relationship to Migration Efficiency in Ruminant Cervical Mucus

CASA Assessment of Kinematic Parameters of Ram Spermatozoa and their Relationship to Migration Efficiency in Ruminant Cervical Mucus

Unsolved Problems in the Locomotion of Mammalian Sperm

The Carbohydrate Structure of DEFB126, the Major Component of the Cynomolgus Macaque Sperm Plasma Membrane Glycocalyx

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