Department of Molecular Medicine-Biological Chemistry, University of Padova, Padova 35131, Italy.
Mar Drugs. 2013 Jun 3;11(6):1909-19. doi: 10.3390/md11061909.
In order to be able to fertilize oocytes, human sperm must undergo a series of morphological and structural alterations, known as capacitation. It has been shown that the production of endogenous sperm reactive oxygen species (ROS) plays a key role in causing cells to undergo a massive acrosome reaction (AR). Astaxanthin (Asta), a photo-protective red pigment belonging to the carotenoid family, is recognized as having anti-oxidant, anti-cancer, anti-diabetic and anti-inflammatory properties and is present in many dietary supplements. This study evaluates the effect of Asta in a capacitating buffer which induces low ROS production and low percentages of acrosome-reacted cells (ARC). Sperm cells were incubated in the presence or absence of increasing concentrations of Asta or diamide (Diam) and analyzed for their ROS production, Tyr-phosphorylation (Tyr-P) pattern and percentages of ARC and non-viable cells (NVC). Results show that Asta ameliorated both sperm head Tyr-P and ARC values without affecting the ROS generation curve, whereas Diam succeeded in enhancing the Tyr-P level but only of the flagellum without increasing ARC values. It is suggested that Asta can be inserted in the membrane and therefore create capacitation-like membrane alteration which allow Tyr-P of the head. Once this has occurred, AR can take place and involves a higher numbers of cells.
为了使卵子受精，人类精子必须经历一系列形态和结构的改变，称为获能。已经表明，内源性精子活性氧（ROS）的产生在导致细胞发生大规模顶体反应（AR）中起着关键作用。虾青素（Asta）是一种属于类胡萝卜素家族的光保护红色色素，被认为具有抗氧化、抗癌、抗糖尿病和抗炎特性，并存在于许多膳食补充剂中。本研究评估了在诱导低 ROS 产生和低顶体反应细胞（ARC）百分比的获能缓冲液中添加 Asta 的效果。将精子细胞在存在或不存在增加浓度的 Asta 或二酰胺（Diam）的情况下孵育，并分析其 ROS 产生、Tyr-磷酸化（Tyr-P）模式以及 ARC 和非存活细胞（NVC）的百分比。结果表明，Asta 改善了精子头部 Tyr-P 和 ARC 值，而不影响 ROS 生成曲线，而 Diam 成功地提高了鞭毛的 Tyr-P 水平，但仅增加了 ARC 值。因此，Asta 可以插入到膜中，从而产生类似于获能的膜改变，允许头部的 Tyr-P。一旦发生这种情况，就可以发生 AR，并且涉及更多的细胞。
