EFFECT OF SPERM SELECTION BY ATTACHMENT TO HYDROGELS ON BIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF PIG SPERMATOZOA

MORILLA, GRICELDA; LIAUDAT, ANA CECILIA; BLOIS, DAMIAN A.; CAPELLA, VIRGINIA; FUNES, R.; RIVAROLA, CLAUDIA; BARBERO, CÉSAR A.; BOSCH, PABLO; RODRIGUEZ, NANCY

Congreso; IV Joint Meeting of The Biology Societies of Argentina; 2021

Sociedad Argentina de Biología

PNIPAM hydrogels copolymerized with APTA-15% (N-isopropylacrylamide co-3-(acrylamidopropyl) trimethyl ammonium chloride) which gives it positive charges. These biomaterials are gaining great importance in the biomedical field due to their low cellular toxicity and versatility of application. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of the sperm selection process using PNIPAM co-APTA-15% surfaces on pig sperm. To accomplish this, the pig sperm were exposed to the surfaces of PNIPAM co-APTA-15% hydrogels, in TALP-Ca++–Albumin medium for 30 min, and subsequently the medium was replaced by TALP-medium without Ca++–Alb. TALP-Ca++–Alb medium was used to stimulate sperm binding to the hydrogel and TALP- without Ca++–Alb, to promote the release of spermatozoa from PNIPAM co-APTA-15% surfaces. The effect of sperm manipulation on motility, morphology, sperm membrane integrity, viability, acrosomal reaction and sperm cell death was evaluated throughout the selection process. The analysis of these parameters was included in the initial sample, postcentrifuge, sperm not adhered to the hydrogel and sperm cells released from the biomaterial. Results were statistically analyzed by one-way ANOVA and Bonferroni as a post-hoc test (P ≤ 0.05). These results suggested that the sperm quality is maintained with high quality to be used in assisted reproduction techniques. Sperm motility was maintained in an acceptable range from good to very good (70–80%). Furthermore, it was found that the PNIPAM co-APTA 15% hydrogel does not cause any alteration in viability, maintaining 66.67 ± 6.67% of viability in released sperm, a hypoosmotic swelling of 73 ± 3.54% after its release, a low percentage of sperm with an acrosomic reaction and sperm morphology within the desired parameters. In conclusion, these results suggest that 15% APTA hydrogels are a biomaterial with the capacity to be used as a method of swine sperm selection for subsequent use in assisted reproduction techniques