EVALUATION OF ALPHA5BETA1 INTEGRIN AS POSSIBLE MOLECULAR MARKER OF FERTILIZING ABILITY OF BOVINE CRYOPRESERVED SPERM

CASTELLANO LUCIANA; OSYCKA SALUT CLAUDIA ELENA; ALONSO CAI; LOTTERO RAQUEL; NAVARRO MICAELA; MUTTO ADRIAN ANGEL; PEREZ MARTINEZ SILVINA

Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires

Congreso; XVIII Jornadas Anuales Multidisciplinarias de la Sociedad Argentina de Biologia; 2016

Sociedad Argentina de Biología

Sperm contribution to fertilization is estimated through spermogram evaluation. However, results from those analysis often do not correlate with fertility. Therefore, the identification of potential markers of sperm functionality would strengthen the proposal of new therapies for infertility. Previous results indicated that α5β1 integrin play a key role in fertilization events in bovines. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is any relationship between α5β1 expression and the fertilizing ability in vitro, in bovines. We studied the localization of α5β1 in bull sperm by immunocytochemistry. Integrin was localized mainly at acrosomal and postacrosomal regions. When sperm were incubated for 45 min in the presence of fibronectin (integrin ligand) an increase of fluorescence intensity was detected by flow cytometry, suggesting an integrin activation. Then, we analysed the fertilizing ability of sperm samples by in vitro fertilization (IVF) according to the rate of cleavage. Sperm samples that showed optimal IVF rates presented higher percentage of sperm expressing α5β1 than those that presented lower IVF rates. These results suggest a possible correlation between the integrin expression and the fertilizing ability of a sperm sample in bovines.