Evidence for the involvement of NGF in human sperm motility

Abstract

Motility is an important physiological characteristic of a mature sperm. Nerve growth factor (NGF) is a key protein for the survival, maintenance and development of the central and peripheral nervous systems. It has been shown that NGF and its receptors TrkA and p75 are widely expressed in the testis, accessory reproductive organ, and the epididymal sperms. These observation have shifted the attention to the role of NGF on male reproductive physiology. In the present study, we found that NGF remarkably increased testicular coefficient in rats subjected to unpredictable chronic mild stress. Furthermore, we investigated the role of NGF on human sperm motility in vitro by CASA. The results showed that the parameters of sperm motility after NGF treatment had significantly increased, the means of VAP, VSL, VCL, BCF and LIN were significantly increased 32% than those of NGF absence, the means of MAD, STR, ALH and WOB had no notable difference. In addition, NGF promotes the sperm motility in a time-and dose-dependent manner. Taken together, our findings suggest that NGF plays a promoted role in sperm motility.

Can the Genetic Origin Affect Rabbit Seminal Plasma Protein Profile along the Year?

“…; Shi et al. ). The wild rabbit is a seasonal breeder with the peak of reproductive activity occurring in the spring and early summer.…”

“…Regarding the male, NGF and its two receptors were reported to be expressed in the testis, prostate gland and seminal vesicle of rabbit, suggesting a possible role of this factor in the testicular development and spermatogenesis (Maranesi et al 2015). Furthermore, there are some evidences of the involvement of this protein in sperm motility as it has been observed that exogenous NGF stimulates the motility in a timeand dose-dependent manner (Jin et al 2010;Shi et al 2012). The wild rabbit is a seasonal breeder with the peak of reproductive activity occurring in the spring and early summer.…”

Expression of β‐NGF and high‐affinity NGF receptor (TrKA) in llama (Lama glama) male reproductive tract and spermatozoa

“…In the sperm cell, the presence of β‐NGF in the middle piece could also be related to sperm motility. Studies performed on ejaculated sperm (e.g., bovine (Li et al, ), human (Shi et al, )), and sperm from epididymis (golden hamster (Jin et al, )) demonstrate that sperm motility increases in a time‐ and dose‐dependent manner when β‐NGF is added to the sperm culture medium. It is worthy to distinguish that in camelids, ejaculated sperm lack of progressive motility, having only oscillatory movement (Giuliano, Director, Gambarotta, Trasorras, & Miragaya, ); whereas sperm collected form epididymis display forward progressive motility (Morton, Bathgate, Evans, & Maxwell, ).…”

Effect of nerve growth factor on sperm quality in asthenozoosprmic men during cryopreservation

“…NGF, an antioxidant supplement, is a member of neurotrophins which has reported to play an important role in the male reproductive system and sperm function [ 11 – 15 ]. NGF stimulates sperm motility [ 12 , 16 , 17 ], viability [ 13 ] and facilitates sperm cell acrosome reactions [ 12 ], and also play an important role in the proliferation and differentiation of leydig cells and testosterone production [ 18 ].…”