Evaluation of metabolic plasticity in the acquisition of murine sperm fertilizing ability

HERZFELD, JAEL DAFNE; GONZALEZ L; GIACAGGLI MM; MARIN BRIGGILER, CI; CUASNICU P; COHEN DJ; DA ROS, VANINA

Congreso; Reunión Anual de Sociedades de Biociencias; 2023

Evaluation of metabolic plasticity in the acquisition of fertilizing ability of murine spermHERZFELD Jael D., GONZÁLEZ Lucas N., GIACCAGLI Ma. Milagros, MARÍN-BRIGGILER Clara I., CUASNICÚ Patricia S., COHEN Débora J., DA ROS Vanina G.Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental-CONICETMammalian sperm must suffer functional and structural changes in the female reproductive tract to gain the ability to fertilize the egg. This process, known as capacitation, requires an efficient management of energy. Our previous work demonstrated the relevance of mitochondrial function for hyperactivation and the development of sperm fertilizing ability during capacitation. However, it remains unclear which substrates sustain this activity. Although most capacitation media contain glucose (G), pyruvate (P) and lactate (L), the nutrients sperm find in the female tract are poorly defined. The aim of this work was to evaluate the development of sperm fertilizing ability in different metabolic environments. We showed that exogenous non-glycolytic substrates maintained the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) increase, differently from the G-only condition (p