Register      Login
Reproduction, Fertility and Development Reproduction, Fertility and Development Society
Vertebrate reproductive science and technology
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > RD > RD08027
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 20(7)

Temporal dynamics of ram sperm binding and survival during 48-h coculture with oviducal epithelial cells

R. E. Lloyd A D , E. Badia B , A. Fazeli C , P. F. Watson B and W. V. Holt A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Institute of Zoology, Regent’s Park, London, NW1 4RY, UK.

B Royal Veterinary College, Royal College Street, London, NW1 0TU, UK.

C Academic Unit of Reproductive and Developmental Medicine, The University of Sheffield, Level 4, The Jessop Wing, Tree Root Walk, Sheffield, S10 2SF, UK.

D Corresponding author. Email: rhiannon.lloyd@ioz.ac.uk

Reproduction, Fertility and Development 20(7) 835-845 https://doi.org/10.1071/RD08027
Submitted: 14 February 2008  Accepted: 4 July 2008   Published: 1 September 2008

Abstract

Following insemination, ram spermatozoa bind to oviducal epithelial cells (OEC) in vivo and remain viable for several hours before fertilisation. In the present study, we investigated whether OEC monolayers reproduce this effect in vitro, performing an analysis of ram sperm binding and survival over an extended (48 h) period at 39°C. We wanted to determine whether the reproductive cycle phase and/or oviducal region would influence ram sperm binding and survival in coculture with OEC and whether reproductive and non-reproductive epithelial cells bound and maintained the viability of ram spermatozoa equivalently. Oviducts were separated into groups based on their ovarian state (follicular or luteal) and then divided into two parts (isthmus and ampulla) for OEC isolation. Sheep kidney epithelial cells (Madin-Darby ovine kidney; MDOK) were purchased commercially. Reproductive cycle phase, but not oviducal region, affected sperm binding to OEC. Although more spermatozoa bound to luteal OEC than to follicular OEC at 1 h, at 24 h follicular OEC had bound more spermatozoa than luteal OEC. Generally, spermatozoa that were bound to OEC and MDOK had enhanced viability at each of the time points investigated (1, 6, 24 and 48 h), but the viability of the OEC-bound spermatozoa was greater than that of the MDOK-bound spermatozoa at 48 h. In conclusion, ram sperm–epithelial cell interactions are temporal, dynamic and depend on the origin of the epithelial cells.


Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Defra (London, UK), Innovis Ltd (Aberystwyth, UK), and IMV Technologies (L’Aigle cedex, France) for funding this study.


References

Abe, H. , Satoh, T. , and Hoshi, H. (1998). Primary modulation by oestradiol of the production of an oviduct-specific glycoprotein by the epithelial cells in the oviduct of newborn golden hamsters. J. Reprod. Fertil. 112, 157–163.
| PubMed | Sostaric E., Dieleman S. J., van de Lest C. H., Colenbrander B., Vos P. L., Garcia-Gil N., and Gadella B. M. (2007). Sperm binding properties and secretory activity of the bovine oviduct immediately before and after ovulation. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 75, 60–74.

Thomas, P. G. , Ball, B. A. , Miller, P. G. , Brinsko, S. P. , and Southwood, L. (1994). A subpopulation of morphologically normal, motile spermatozoa attach to equine oviductal epithelial cell monolayers. Biol. Reprod. 51, 303–309.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed | West E. S., Todd W. R., Mason H. S., and Bruggen J. T. (1966). Blood. In ‘Textbook of Biochemistry’. (Eds E. S. West, W. R. Todd, H. S. Mason and J. T. Bruggen.) pp. 550–630. (Macmillan: New York.)

Yanagimachi R. (1994). Mammalian fertilisation. In ‘The Physiology of Reproduction’. (Eds E. Knobil and J. D. Neill.) pp. 189–317. (Raven Press: New York.)