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Pretreatment with cholesterol-loaded cyclodextrins prevents loss of motility associated proteins during cryopreservation of addra gazelle (Nanger dama ruficollis) spermatozoa

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Abstract

  • Sperm cryopreservation is challenging, often resulting in irreversible damage to spermatozoa, as indicated by decreased motility, viability, and/or acrosomal integrity. Developing cryopreservation protocols for gametes of endangered species compounds the complexity of technique optimization; samples are difficult to obtain and numbers are limited. Cryopreservation of sperm collected from the critically endangered addra gazelle (Nanger dama ruficollis), a member of the Bovidae family, resulted in significant loss of motility, which was prevented by pretreatment with cholesterol-loaded cyclodextrin (CLC). This study investigated the proteome of sperm (fresh and cryopreserved), processed in the absence and presence of 0.5 mg/ml CLC in the addra gazelle. The proteome of Bos taurus, the closest domestic relative, was used as a reference. Mass spectrometry analysis of the addra gazelle sperm proteome revealed 287 proteins. The concentrations of 85 proteins differed between fresh and frozen/thawed samples; nearly all were decreased. Most were associated with metabolic processes, specifically glycolysis, which may explain the decrease in post-thaw motility observed in this species. CLC pretreatment partially prevented the loss of various proteins involved in metabolism including CAPZB (gene = CAPZB), HS90A (gene = HSP90AA1), and PGAM2 (gene = PGAM2). To our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the proteome of any wild bovids' sperm, and the first to compare protein levels in sperm pretreated with CLC.

Publication Date

  • 2018

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