Sperm motility

About: Sperm motility is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 13874 publications have been published within this topic receiving 416587 citations. The topic is also known as: sperm movement & GO:0097722.

Chromatin packaging and morphology in ejaculated human spermatozoa: evidence of hidden anomalies in normal spermatozoa.

Abstract: This study aimed to investigate the association between anomalies in sperm chromatin packaging, morphology and fertilization in patients undergoing routine in-vitro fertilization (IVF) or subzonal insemination (SUZI). Sperm chromatin packaging was assessed using chromomycin A3 (CMA3), a fluorochrome specific for guanine-cytosine rich sequences of DNA. One hundred to 150 sperm cells were assessed in 55 patients to compare sperm chromatin packaging and morphology to fertilization after IVF or SUZI. When the morphology and CMA3 fluorescence of individual spermatozoa was assessed, > 75% of the macrocephalic sperm fluoresced in all patients. In contrast, a mean of 37% of the spermatozoa with normal morphology fluoresced in IVF patients compared with 58% of the normal spermatozoa in male factor patients treated by SUZI. SUZI patients displaying a high fluorescence (> 70%) in their spermatozoa also had a significantly lower fertilization rate. Lower packaging quality in morphologically normal spermatozoa may represent a major limiting factor in the fertilizing ability of male factor patients. This study confirms that a high percentage of CMA3 positivity is present in certain forms of male factor infertility and that such a test may be used to distinguish separate populations in morphologically normal spermatozoa.

Osmotic Tolerance Limits and Effects of Cryoprotectants on Motility of Bovine Spermatozoa

Abstract: This study was conducted to determine the osmotic properties of bull spermatozoa, including the effects of osmotic stress and cryoprotectant agent (CPA) addition and removal, on sperm motility. Semen from beef bulls was collected by electroejaculation and extended 1:3 in TL-Hepes containing 100 mg/ml pyruvate and 6 mg/ml BSA. In solutions of 150‐1200 mOsmolal (mOsm), bull spermatozoa behaved as linear osmometers (r 2 5 0.97) with an osmotically inactive cell volume of 61%. The isosmotic cell volume was 23.5 mm 3 . Motility was determined after exposure to anisosmotic solutions ranging from 35 to 2400 mOsm and after return to isosmotic conditions. Retention of at least 90% of isosmotic motility could be maintained only between 270‐360 mOsm. Bull spermatozoa were calculated to retain 90% of their isosmotic motility at 92‐103% of their isosmotic cell volume. Motility following a one-step addition and removal of 1Mg lycerol, dimethyl sulfoxide, and ethylene glycol was reduced by 31%, 90%, and 6%, respectively, compared with CPA addition only. These data indicate that, during bull spermatozoa cryopreservation, osmotically driven cell volume excursions must be limited by exposure to a very narrow range that may be facilitated by the use of ethylene glycol as a CPA. gamete biology, sperm, sperm motility and transport

Caenorhabditis elegans spermatozoan locomotion: amoeboid movement with almost no actin.

Abstract: The pseudopods of Caenorhabditis elegans spermatozoa move actively causing some cells to translocate when the sperm are dissected into a low osmotic strength buffered salts solution. On time-lapse video tapes, pseudopodial projections can be seen moving at 20-45 micrometers/min from the tip to the base of the pseudopod. This movement occurs whether or not the cell is attached to a substrate. Translocation of the cell is dependent on the substrate. Some spermatozoa translocate on acid-washed glass, but a better substrate is prepared by drying an extract of Ascaris uteri (the normal site of nematode sperm motility) onto glass slides. On this substrate more than half the spermatozoa translocate at a velocity (21 micrometers/min) similar to that observed in vivo. Translocating cells attach to the substrate by their pseudopodial projections. They always move toward the pseudopod; changes in direction are caused by changes in pseudopod shape that determine points of detachment and reattachment of the cell to the substrate. Actin comprises less than 0.02% of the proteins in sperm, and myosin is undetectable. No microfilaments are found in the sperm. Immunohistochemistry shows that some actin is localized in patches in the pseudopod. The movement of spermatozoa is unaffected by cytochalasins, however, so there is no evidence that actin participates in locomotion. Fertilization-defective mutants in genes fer-2, fer-4, and fer-6 produce spermatozoa with defective pseudopodial projections, and these spermatozoa are largely immotile. Mutants in the spermatozoa do not translocate. Thus pseudopod movement is correlated with the presence of normal projections. Twelve mutants with defective muscles have spermatozoa with normal movement, so these genes do not specify products needed for both muscle and nonmuscle cell motility.

Extender and centrifugation effects on the motility patterns of slow-cooled stallion spermatozoa.

Abstract: Slow-cooled stallion spermatozoa, with and without seminal plasma removed by centrifugation, were diluted in Kenney's extender (KE) containing nonfat dry skim milk with glucose and antibiotics or in KE supplemented by adding a modified high-potassium Tyrode's medium (KMT). Four ejaculates from each of four stallions were collected and divided factorially across these four treatments. Percentage of motile sperm, path velocity, and linearity immediately after treatment (0 h) and after storage at 4 degrees C for 24, 48, and 72 h were evaluated objectively by use of a HTM-2030 sperm motility analyzer. Stallions were a significant source of variation (P less than .01) throughout. After sperm had cooled, effects of stallion, extender, centrifugation, and their interactions were all found to be significant (P less than .01). The motility at 0, 24, 48, and 72 h for centrifuged KE was 74, 47, 39, and 24%; for uncentrifuged KE was 76, 56, 50, and 37%; for centrifuged KMT was 76, 75, 72, and 64%; and for uncentrifuged KMT was 80, 50, 26, and 13%, respectively. The extender x centrifugation interaction, after 24, 48, and 72 h of storage, accounted for half or more of the variation. Whereas centrifugation of semen extended in KE seemed to be harmful to sperm, motility of sperm extended in KMT after centrifugation was remarkably conserved for 72 h and was superior to all other treatments (P less than .05). This extender is promising for preserving liquid stallion semen when it must be transported before use in artificial insemination.

Infertile spermatozoa of c-ros tyrosine kinase receptor knockout mice show flagellar angulation and maturational defects in cell volume regulatory mechanisms.

Abstract: Homozygous c-ros knockout male mice that lack prepubertal differentiation of the epididymal initial segment are healthy but sterile, despite normal sperm production and mating. Detailed computerized analysis of the motility of spermatozoa maturing in the epididymis revealed only minor defects. However, the majority of motile mature sperm released from the cauda epididymidis showed various extents of flagellar angulation that could not be corrected by raising extracellular osmolality. Measurement of the osmolality of cauda epididymal fluid showed no difference from the wild type. Studies in wild-type mice indicated a maturational change in the ability of motile sperm to maintain straight flagella during incubation, but angulation was induced in cauda sperm by the volume-sensitive ion channel blockers quinine, 5-nitro-2-(3-phenylpropylamino)-benzoic acid and BaCl(2), or by exposure to hypotonic media. Flagellar angulation, induced in the wild type or intrinsic to the knockout, was relieved upon demembranation by Triton X-100, confirming that it was a cell swelling phenomenon. A lack of response of immature wild-type sperm and mature knockout sperm to the channel blockers suggests that there is normally a development of the volume regulatory mechanisms upon maturation that is defective in sperm from the knockout animal. The resultant flagellar angulation may account for the reduction in sperm numbers in the oviduct of mated females and the failure to fertilize in vivo.