Food Science Department, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), Cornell University, Ithaca 14853, New York, USA.
Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM), Cornell University, Ithaca 14853, New York, USA.
Lab Chip. 2024 Jan 17;24(2):210-223. doi: 10.1039/d3lc00737e.
To understand the impact of sperm speed as they swim against the flow on fertilization rates, we created conditions similar to the female reproductive tract (FRT) on a microfluidic platform for sperm selection. Selected sperm were evaluated based on early development of fertilized embryos. Bovine and human spermatozoa were selected at various fluid flow rates within the device. We found that the speed of bovine spermatozoa increases as the flow rate increases and that the amount of DNA fragmentation index is lowered by increasing the flow rate. Bovine spermatozoa selected by our platform at low (150 μL h, shear rate 3 s), medium (250 μL h, shear rate 5 s), and high flow rates (350 μL h, shear rate 7 s) were used for fertilization and compared to sperm sorted by centrifugation. The samples collected at the highest flow rate resulted in the formation of 23% more blastocysts compared to the control. While selecting for higher quality sperm by increasing the flow rate does result in lower sperm yield, quality improvement and yield may be balanced by better embryonic development.
为了了解精子在逆流中游泳的速度对受精率的影响，我们在微流控平台上创造了类似于女性生殖道（FRT）的条件，用于精子选择。选择的精子是根据受精卵的早期发育情况来评估的。我们在设备内以不同的流速选择牛和人精子。我们发现，牛精子的速度随着流速的增加而增加，并且随着流速的增加，DNA 碎片化指数降低。我们的平台在低（150 μL h，剪切率 3 s）、中（250 μL h，剪切率 5 s）和高流速（350 μL h，剪切率 7 s）下选择的牛精子用于受精，并与离心分离的精子进行了比较。与对照组相比，在最高流速下收集的样本形成的囊胚多了 23%。虽然通过增加流速选择高质量精子会导致精子产量降低，但通过更好的胚胎发育，质量提高和产量可能会达到平衡。
