Oviductal Extracellular Vesicles Improve Post-Thaw Sperm Function in Red Wolves and Cheetahs

Artificial insemination (AI) is a valuable tool for ex situ wildlife conservation, allowing the re-infusion and dissemination of genetic material, even after death of the donor. However, the application of AI to species conservation is still limited, due mainly to the poor survival of cryopreserved...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of molecular sciences 2020-05, Vol.21 (10), p.3733
Main Authors: de Almeida Monteiro Melo Ferraz, Marcia, Nagashima, Jennifer Beth, Noonan, Michael James, Crosier, Adrienne E, Songsasen, Nucharin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acinonyx - physiology
Acrosomes
Animal reproduction
Animals
Artificial insemination
Breeding of animals
Cats
Cell adhesion & migration
Cryopreservation
Cryopreservation - methods
Endangered & extinct species
Endangered Species
Exocytosis
Exosomes - metabolism
Extracellular vesicles
Female
gamete rescue
Insemination, Artificial - methods
Male
Motility
oviduct
Oviducts - metabolism
Population
Proteins
Reproduction (biology)
Reproductive technologies
Semen Preservation - methods
Sperm
Sperm Motility
Spermatozoa - physiology
Thawing
Vesicles
wildlife
Wildlife conservation
Wolves
Wolves - physiology
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Summary:Artificial insemination (AI) is a valuable tool for ex situ wildlife conservation, allowing the re-infusion and dissemination of genetic material, even after death of the donor. However, the application of AI to species conservation is still limited, due mainly to the poor survival of cryopreserved sperm. Recent work demonstrated that oviductal extracellular vesicles (oEVs) improved cat sperm motility and reduced premature acrosomal exocytosis. Here, we build on these findings by describing the protein content of dog and cat oEVs and investigating whether the incubation of cryopreserved red wolf and cheetah sperm with oEVs during thawing improves sperm function. Both red wolf and cheetah sperm thawed with dog and cat oEVs, respectively, had more intact acrosomes than the non-EV controls. Moreover, red wolf sperm thawed in the presence of dog oEVs better maintained sperm motility over time (>15%) though such an improvement was not observed in cheetah sperm. Our work demonstrates that dog and cat oEVs carry proteins important for sperm function and improve post-thaw motility and/or acrosome integrity of red wolf and cheetah sperm in vitro. The findings show how oEVs can be a valuable tool for improving the success of AI with cryopreserved sperm in threatened species.
ISSN:1422-0067
1661-6596
1422-0067
DOI:10.3390/ijms21103733