Proacrosin-deficient mice and zona pellucida modifications in an experimental model of multifactorial infertility
| Autor: | Christian D. Muller, Rahman Shamsadin, Wolfgang Engel, Ulrich Sancken, Ibrahim M. Adham, Karim Nayernia |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2002 |
| Předmět: |
Infertility
Male Embryology Time Factors Proline media_common.quotation_subject Gene Expression Fertility Mice Inbred Strains Fertilization in Vitro Biology Andrology 03 medical and health sciences Mice 0302 clinical medicine Human fertilization Genetics medicine Animals Dimethyl Sulfoxide Zona pellucida Molecular Biology Zona Pellucida 030304 developmental biology Unexplained infertility media_common 0303 health sciences Acrosin Enzyme Precursors 030219 obstetrics & reproductive medicine Obstetrics and Gynecology Cell Biology Anatomy Chlorodiphenyl (54% Chlorine) Oocyte medicine.disease Sperm Mice Mutant Strains Protein Structure Tertiary Disease Models Animal medicine.anatomical_structure Reproductive Medicine Oocytes Female Developmental Biology |
| Zdroj: | Molecular human reproduction. 8(5) |
| ISSN: | 1360-9947 |
| Popis: | In humans, male and female partners contribute more or less equally to the infertility problem. In approximately 20% of infertile couples, the concurrence of male and female factors is suggested to be responsible for infertility. Neither of these factors are known nor is there a model system to prove this assumption. We present such a model system in the mouse, in which the lack of acrosin in the male and modifications of the zona pellucida (ZP) in the female result in a significant reduction of the fertilization rate in vitro. We generated mice carrying a deletion in the proline-rich region (PRR) of the proacrosin gene, resulting in the absence of proacrosin in the homozygous PRR(-/-) male mouse. Under normal conditions, sperm from the proacrosin-deficient mice are still capable of ZP penetration and fertilization. In this study, modifications of the ZP of oocytes after superovulation were achieved by treatment with dimethylsulphoxide or aroclor-1254 or by in-vitro ageing. It is known that under these conditions, a time-dependent hardening of the ZP occurs. The rates of fertilization in vitro of treated and aged oocytes using sperm from PRR(-/-) mice were found to be significantly reduced when compared with those reached with wild-type sperm. The relevance of the acrosin status and ZP condition for fertilization success were further substantiated by the finding that the fertilization rate with PRR(-/-) sperm is affected by the thickness of the ZP. Our results demonstrate that the lack of acrosin in sperm in combination with modifications to the ZP can affect fertility and can be an experimental model for the study of unexplained infertility in human couples in which both male- and female-derived factors are suggested to be the underlying causes. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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