Dordas-Perpinyà Marta, Sergeant Nicolas, Ruelle Isabelle, Bruyas Jean-François, Charreaux Frédéric, Michaud Sandrine, Carracedo Sara, Catalán Jaime, Miró Jordi, Delehedde Maryse, Briand-Amirat Lamia
Oniris, Nantes-Atlantic College of Veterinary Medicine, 44300 Nantes, France.
Equine Reproduction Service, Department of Animal Medicine and Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Autonomous University of Barcelona, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain.
Vet Sci. 2022 May 6;9(5):224. doi: 10.3390/vetsci9050224.
Functional sperm quality markers to predict bull fertility have been actively investigated. Among them, proAKAP4, which is the precursor of AKAP4, the main structural protein in the fibrous sheath of spermatozoa; appears to be promising, especially since spermatozoa lacking AKAP4 expression were shown to be immotile, abnormal, and infertile. In this study, the objective was to evaluate proAKAP4 concentration values with the classic sperm motility descriptors and fertility outcomes (NRR at 90 days) in post-thawed conditions of 10 bulls' semen. ProAKAP4 expression was confirmed by Western blotting and proAKAP4 concentrations were determined by ELISA. Variations in proAKAP4 concentrations were observed independently of the motility sperm descriptors measured using computer-assisted semen analysis (CASA). A ProAKAP4 concentration of 38.67 ± 8.55 ng/10 million spermatozoa was obtained as a statistical mean of all samples. Threshold values of proAKAP4 were then determined between 19.96 to 96.95 ng/10 million spermatozoa. ProAKAP4 concentrations were positively correlated with progressive motility and the linearity coefficient. The sperm showing the lowest progressive motility were the samples exhibiting proAKAP4 concentrations below 20 ng/10 million spermatozoa. Furthermore, proAKAP4 concentrations were significantly higher in bulls with a higher NRR in the field. Our results demonstrate a correlation between the semen concentration of proAKAP4 and NRR-90d ( = 0.05) in post-thawed bull semen, highlighting the potential of proAKAP4 as a predictive marker of bull fertility.
用于预测公牛生育能力的功能性精子质量标志物一直是积极研究的对象。其中，前AKAP4是精子纤维鞘中的主要结构蛋白AKAP4的前体，似乎很有前景，特别是因为缺乏AKAP4表达的精子表现为无运动能力、异常且不育。在本研究中，目的是在10头公牛精液解冻后的条件下，用经典的精子活力描述指标和生育结果（90天非返情率）来评估前AKAP4的浓度值。通过蛋白质免疫印迹法确认前AKAP4的表达，并通过酶联免疫吸附测定法测定前AKAP4的浓度。观察到前AKAP4浓度的变化与使用计算机辅助精液分析（CASA）测量的精子活力描述指标无关。所有样本的统计平均值为每1000万个精子中前AKAP4浓度为38.67±8.55纳克。然后确定前AKAP4的阈值在每1000万个精子19.96至96.95纳克之间。前AKAP4浓度与渐进性活力和线性系数呈正相关。渐进性活力最低的精子是那些前AKAP4浓度低于每1000万个精子20纳克的样本。此外，在田间非返情率较高的公牛中，前AKAP4浓度显著更高。我们的结果表明，解冻后公牛精液中前AKAP4的精液浓度与90天非返情率之间存在相关性（P = 0.05），突出了前AKAP4作为公牛生育能力预测标志物的潜力。
