Publication details
Boar sperm head membrane damage during cryopreservation evaluated by electron microscopy
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2012 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Research in pig breeding |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Other medical specializations |
| Keywords | Boar; sperm; membrane; TEM; ultrastructure |
| Description | As electron microscopy can reveal much smaller changes in plasma membrane integrity than optical methods, it appears to be a useful tool for evaluating semen quality or the damage inflicted on spermatozoa during preservation. By evaluating membrane integrity of the sperm head in 16 boars by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), it was found that the plasma membrane is very sensitive and tends to break in the acrosomal area but not in the rest of the sperm head. The earliest signs of injury to spermatozoa in the acrosomal part of the sperm head were observed in the plasma membrane that became swollen, broken or lost. The next damaged part of spermatozoa which is less sensitive than the plasma membrane is the acrosome and its external membrane. The freezing process caused a substantial increase in the degree of cell damage manifested as disturbed or missing plasma membrane, acrosomal reaction-like changes and unevenly distributed or lost acrosomal contents. The latter was not found in fresh semen. Using an appropriate buffer concentration for the fixatives applied during preparation of semen samples for TEM appeared as a very important factor due to the impact of their osmolality on plasma membrane integrity of sperm cells. |