Location of aquaporins 3, 7 and 10 in frozen-thawed ejaculated and cauda epididymal spermatozoa from the Iberian ibex, mouflon, and chamois

Spermatozoa collected from the cauda epididymis of wild ruminants are more cryoresistant than ejaculated spermatozoa. Changes in the membrane location of aquaporins (AQPs) follow the osmotic changes that occur during freeze-thawing, and might influence the cryosurvival of spermatozoa depending on th...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Pequeño, Belén, Martínez Madrid, Carmen Belén, Castaño, Cristina, Toledano-Díaz, Adolfo, Bóveda, Paula, Esteso, Milagros C., Gómez-Guillamón, Félix, Prieto, Paloma, Marcos-Beltrán, Jaime L., Alvarez-Rodriguez, Manuel, Rodriguez-Martinez, Heriberto, Santiago-Moreno, Julián
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Institución:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/102534
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/102534
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:636.09
Aquaporins
cryopreservation
sperm
cryosurvival
wild ruminants
Veterinaria
24 Ciencias de la Vida
Descripción
Sumario:Spermatozoa collected from the cauda epididymis of wild ruminants are more cryoresistant than ejaculated spermatozoa. Changes in the membrane location of aquaporins (AQPs) follow the osmotic changes that occur during freeze-thawing, and might influence the cryosurvival of spermatozoa depending on their source. This work reports the location of AQP3, AQP7 and AQP10 in the cauda epididymal and post-ejaculation spermatozoa of three wild mountain ungulate species (Iberian ibex, mouflon, and chamois), as determined by Western blotting (WB) and immunocytochemistry (ICC) using commercial rabbit polyclonal primary antibodies. WB confirmed the presence of all three AQPs in the spermatozoa of all the studied species, while ICC showed AQP3 to be mainly located in the sperm acrosome, mid-piece, principal piece, and end piece, both in cauda epididymal and ejaculated cells. The percentage of ejaculated spermatozoa showing AQP3 in the principal piece was higher in the ibex than in the chamois (P < 0.05), and higher in epididymal spermatozoa in the mouflon than in the chamois (P < 0.05). AQP7 was located in the acrosome of both epididymal and ejaculated spermatozoa, as well as in the cytoplasmic droplet of the epididymal spermatozoa of all three species. No differences were seen between the species with respect to the percentage of spermatozoa showing AQP7. AQP10 was located mainly in the mid-piece, principal piece and end piece of the sperm tail in both epididymal and ejaculated spermatozoa. The percentage of mouflon spermatozoa with AQP10 in the end piece was higher in the cauda epididymal than in the ejaculated spermatozoa (P < 0.05). In conclusion, except for AQP10 in the mouflon, the locations of the studied AQPs are similar in epididymal and ejaculated spermatozoa, with inter-species differences seen only for AQP3. Further studies are needed to determine what this might mean with respect to sperm cryopreservation.