Bovine spermatozoa react to in vitro heat stress by activating the mitogen-activated protein kinase 14 signalling pathway

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doi:10.1071/RD12198

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Bovine spermatozoa react to in vitro heat stress by activating the mitogen-activated protein kinase 14 signalling pathway

Mohammad Bozlur Rahman ^A ^E, Leen Vandaele ^B, Tom Rijsselaere ^A, Mohamed Shehab El-Deen ^C, Dominiek Maes ^A, Mohammed Shamsuddin ^D and Ann Van Soom ^A

^A Department of Reproduction, Obstetrics and Herd Health, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium.
^B Department of Animal Science, Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research, Scheldeweg 68, 9090 Melle, Belgium.
^C Department of Animal Production, Suez Canal University, Ismailia 41522, Egypt.
^D Department of Surgery and Obstetrics, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh 2202, Bangladesh.
^E Corresponding author. Email: mohammadbozlur.rahman@ugent.be

Reproduction, Fertility and Development - http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/RD12198
Submitted: 22 June 2012 Accepted: 27 November 2012 Published online: 18 January 2013





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Abstract

Heat stress has long been recognised as a cause of subfertility in farm animals. The objectives of the present study were to elucidate the effect of heat stress on sperm function and involvement of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) 14 signalling pathway. Spermatozoa incubated for 4 h at a physiological temperature (38.5°C) exhibited significantly (P < 0.05) reduced motility, plasma membrane integrity and mitochondrial potential compared with non-incubated spermatozoa; the reductions in these parameters were more severe following incubation at a hyperthermic (41°C) temperature (P < 0.01). Percentages of fertilisation and embryo development were highly affected in spermatozoa incubated at 41°C compared with non-incubated spermatozoa (P < 0.01). Similarly, embryo quality was adversely affected by sperm incubation at 41°C, as indicated by a higher apoptotic cell ratio in Day 7 blastocysts compared with that in the non-incubated control group (14.6% vs 6.7%, respectively; P < 0.01). Using SB203580 (10 µg mL^–1), a specific inhibitor of the p38 MAPK pathway, during sperm hyperthermia reduced MAPK14 activation (24.9% vs 35.6%), increased sperm motility (45.8% vs 26.5%) and reduced DNA fragmentation (16.9% vs 23.4%) compared with the untreated control group, but did not improve subsequent fertilisation and embryo development. In conclusion, heat stress significantly affects the potential of spermatozoa to penetrate oocytes, as well as subsequent embryo development and quality. Notably, the data show that the MAPK14 signalling pathway is largely involved in heat-induced sperm damage. However, further research is needed to elucidate other signalling pathways possibly involved in heat-induced sperm damage.

Additional keywords: functional parameters, mitogen-activated protein kinase 14 phosphorylation, terminal deoxyribonucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP–digoxigenin nick end-labelling.

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