Sperm selection based on chemotaxis improved the quality of sexed and not sexed bovine embryos

GUIDOBALDI HA; DOMINGUEZ EM; TRIBULO H ; MORENO A; GIOJALAS LC

Congreso; Gordon Research Conference on Fertilization and Activation of Development; 2017

Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) leads to the birth of about 7 million babies. However, the current rate of success is about 30%, whereas sperm quality influences not only fertilization but also embryo development and implantation. A new sperm selection method (called SSA) based on chemical orientation, that recruit spermatozoa at the best functional state, has been recently developed. Thus, the SSA selects and concentrates a subpopulation of capacitated spermatozoa with intact DNA and low oxidative stress. Since sperm sexing and frozen-thawing affect spermatozoa, particularly its DNA, the application of the SSA to sexed cryopreserved spermatozoa, may improve the offspring quality after IVF procedure. We first set up the experimental conditions to perform the SSA with sexed and not sexed frozen-thawed bovine spermatozoa. Then, we verified that under the set conditions, the SSA recruited capacitated and DNA intact bovine spermatozoa. Furthermore, the cleavage rate was significantly improved when oocytes were fertilized with those selected sexed and not sexed spermatozoa. Results suggests that this biotechnology may help couples undergoing ART procedures performed either with sexed or not sexed sperm samples.