THE ENDOCANNABONOID ANANDAMIDE (AEA) REGULATES THE OVIDUCTAL SPEM SELECTION IN BOVINES BY INDUCING SPERM CAPACITATION

GERVASI MG, ,, Y .; OSYCKA-SALUT C; BURDET J; FRANCHI A; PÉREZ-MARTÍNEZ S

Holderness, NH

Congreso; Gordon Research Conference, Fertilization & Activation of Development.; 2013

Mammalian oviduct acts as a reservoir for spermatozoa and provides an environment in which they may compete to fertilize an oocyte. Sperm-oviduct interaction is essential for sperm capacitation, and is a tightly regulated process influenced by the local microenvironment. Endocannabinoids are lipid mediators involved in many reproductive functions. Previously, we reported that the endocannabinoid AEA promotes sperm release from bovine oviductal epithelial cells by activating cannabinoid receptors (CB1) and vanilloid receptors (TRPV1). The aim of this work was to study the regulation and the mechanism of action of AEA in the oviductal selection of spermatozoa. We characterize the main metabolic pathway of AEA through the estrous cycle in the bovine oviduct. The expression and localization of FAAH (enzyme that degrades AEA) and NAPE-PLD (enzyme that synthesize AEA) protein in the oviduct did not change between the different stages of the estrous cycle. However the AEA concentrations from the oviductal fluid fluctuate between nanomolar levels, and the highest intracellular levels of this endocannabinoid were found in the post-ovulatory stage (p