Ejaculated mouse sperm enter cumulus-oocyte complexes more efficiently in vitro than epididymal sperm.

ABSTRACT: The mouse is an established and popular animal model for studying reproductive biology. Epididymal mouse sperm, which lack exposure to secretions of male accessory glands and do not precisely represent ejaculated sperm for the study of sperm functions, have been almost exclusively used in studies. We compared ejaculated and epididymal sperm in an in vitro fertilization setting to examine whether ejaculated sperm enter cumulus-oocyte complexes more efficiently. In order to prepare sperm for fertilization, they were incubated under capacitating conditions. At the outset of incubation, ejaculated sperm stuck to the glass surfaces of slides and the incidences of sticking decreased with time; whereas, very few epididymal sperm stuck to glass at any time point, indicating differences in surface

SUBMITTER: Li H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4440731 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature