Short communication: Bull sperm selection by attachment to hyaluronic acid semi-interpenetrated hydrogels

BLOIS, DAMIAN; RIVERO, REBECA; RIVAROLA, CLAUDIA; CAPELLA, VIRGINIA; BARBERO, CÉSAR; BOSCH, PABLO; LIAUDAT, ANA CECILIA; MORILLA, GRICELDA; RODRÍGUEZ, NANCY

REPRODUCTION IN DOMESTIC ANIMALS (1990)

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Año: 2021 p. 1 - 5

0936-6768

We report the development of a hydrogel-based approach to select bull spermatozoa, a crucial step for successful assisted reproductive techniques (ARTs). Hyaluronic acid (HA) semi-interpenetrated N-isopropylacrylamide (PNIPAM) co-20% N-Tris (hydroxymethyl) methyl acrylamide (HMA) hydrogels were synthetized on glass surfaces and cultured in presence of frozen-thawed bull spermatozoa. A fraction of motile bull spermatozoa population strongly attached to hydrogels and was partially released by treatment with hyaluronidase. Fifty-nine (59 ± 7.24) per cent of sperm cells attached to PNIPAM-HMA-HA hydrogels and 31.16 ± 4.81% of them were released upon treatment with medium containing hyaluronidase. This attached-released sperm fraction has acceptable characteristics of progressive motility (50.0 ± 5.0%), vigour (4), high viability (58.7 ± 11.7%) and low percentage of acrosome reacted spermatozoa (23.36 ± 4.1%). Our findings indicate that PNIPAM-HMA-HA hydrogels are non-toxic and allow the selection of high-quality sperm cells for ART.