用于分选具有渐进运动性的高质量精子的梯度流变趋性微流控芯片设计

Design of a gradient-rheotaxis microfluidic chip for sorting of high-quality Sperm with progressive motility.

作者信息

Huang Chung-Hsien, Chen Ching-Hung, Huang Teng-Kuan, Lu Farn, Jen Huang Jack Yu, Li Bor-Ran

机构信息

Institute of Biomedical Engineering, College of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.

出版信息

iScience. 2023 Jul 17;26(8):107356. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107356. eCollection 2023 Aug 18.

DOI:10.1016/j.isci.2023.107356

PMID:37559897

原文链接:https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10407744/

Abstract

Assisted reproductive technology (ART) is an important invention for the treatment of human infertility, and the isolation of high-quality sperm with progressive motility is one of the most critical steps that eventually affect the fertilization rate. Conventional sperm separation approaches include the swim-up method and density gradient centrifugation. However, the quality of isolated sperm obtained from both approaches can still be improved by improving sorted sperm motility, minimizing the DNA fragmentation rate, and removing abnormal phenotypes. Here, we report a Progressive Sperm Sorting Chip (PSSC) for high-quality sperm isolation. Based on the rheotaxis behavior of sperm, a gradient flow field is created in the chip for progressive sperm sorting. Clinical experiment results for 10 volunteers showed that greater than 90% of isolated sperm exhibit high motility (> 25 μm/s), high linearity (0.8), and a very low DNA fragmentation rate (< 5%). In addition, the whole process is label and chemical free. These features aid in gentle sperm sorting to obtain healthy sperm. This device uniquely enables the selection of high-quality sperm with progressive motility and might be clinically applied for infertility treatment in the near future.

摘要

辅助生殖技术（ART）是治疗人类不孕症的一项重要发明，而分离出具有进行性运动能力的高质量精子是最终影响受精率的最关键步骤之一。传统的精子分离方法包括上游法和密度梯度离心法。然而，通过提高分选精子的运动能力、最小化DNA碎片化率以及去除异常表型，从这两种方法获得的分离精子的质量仍可得到改善。在此，我们报告一种用于高质量精子分离的进行性精子分选芯片（PSSC）。基于精子的趋流行为，在芯片中创建梯度流场以进行进行性精子分选。对10名志愿者的临床实验结果表明，超过90%的分离精子具有高运动能力（>25μm/s）、高直线性（0.8）以及非常低的DNA碎片化率（<5%）。此外，整个过程无需标记和化学试剂。这些特性有助于温和地分选精子以获得健康精子。该装置独特地能够选择具有进行性运动能力的高质量精子，并且在不久的将来可能会临床应用于不孕症治疗。