Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Shaanxi Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, No. 22 Xinong Road, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, People's Republic of China.
Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Shaanxi Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, No. 22 Xinong Road, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, People's Republic of China.
Int J Biol Macromol. 2023 Mar 31;232:123485. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.123485. Epub 2023 Jan 31.
Sex-control technology have great economic value and is one of the hot topics in livestock research. To produce more milk, dairy farmers prefer female offspring. X/Y sperm separation is an effective method for offspring sex control. Currently, the major commercial production method for sperm separation is flow cytometry sorting in cattle. However, flow cytometry requires expensive equipment and long sorting times. So, a simple and inexpensive method for producing a higher number of dairy cows is required. In this study, R848 activates toll-like receptor 7/8 (TLR7/8), thereby separating X from Y sperm. The results showed TLR7/8 is expressed in the tail of X sperm. Immunofluorescence (IF) of testes, epididymis, and ejaculate shows that the number of TLR7/8 sperm cells is up to 50 %. Furthermore, TLR7/8 agonist (R848) affects mitochondrial function through the PI3K/GSK3α/β/hexokinase and PI3K/NFκB/hexokinase signalling pathways, inhibiting X sperm motility, while the motility of Y-sperm remains unchanged. The difference in sperm motility causes Y sperm (with high motility) to move to the upper layer and X-sperm (with low motility) to the lower layer allowing the separation of X and Y sperm. Based on this study, we reveal a simple and effective method for enriched X/Y sperms from cattle.
性别控制技术具有巨大的经济价值，是家畜研究中的热门话题之一。为了生产更多的牛奶，奶农更喜欢雌性后代。X/Y 精子分离是控制后代性别的有效方法。目前，精子分离的主要商业生产方法是牛的流式细胞术分选。然而，流式细胞术需要昂贵的设备和较长的分选时间。因此，需要一种简单、廉价的方法来生产更多的奶牛。在这项研究中，R848 激活 Toll 样受体 7/8（TLR7/8），从而将 X 与 Y 精子分离。结果表明 TLR7/8 在 X 精子的尾部表达。睾丸、附睾和精液的免疫荧光（IF）显示，TLR7/8 精子细胞的数量高达 50%。此外，TLR7/8 激动剂（R848）通过 PI3K/GSK3α/β/己糖激酶和 PI3K/NFκB/己糖激酶信号通路影响线粒体功能，抑制 X 精子的运动能力，而 Y 精子的运动能力保持不变。精子运动能力的差异导致 Y 精子（具有高运动能力）移动到上层，X 精子（具有低运动能力）移动到下层，从而实现 X 和 Y 精子的分离。基于这项研究，我们揭示了一种从牛中富集 X/Y 精子的简单有效方法。
