Osteopontin enhances sperm capacitation and in vitro fertilization efficiency in boars

Abstract

In this study, we used more reliable experimental materials and methods to detect the effects of osteopontin (OPN) on boar sperm in vitro capacitation, acrosome reaction, and fertilization efficiency. We reorganized and obtained the OPN protein of the porcine source. Immunofluorescence and Western blot show the localization and expression of the OPN protein before and after sperm capacitation. To determine whether OPN can affect sperm during sperm capacitation, we examined cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) concentrations after sperm capacitation, and the results showed that OPN significantly increased the cAMP concentration in sperm ( p < 0.05). Flow cytometry showed that 0.1 μg/mL OPN-treated sperm had better acrosome reaction ability. In vitro fertilization (IVF) showed that 0.1 μg/mL OPN significantly increased the rate of embryo division. In conclusion, this study found that 0.1 μg/mL porcine OPN protein can significantly improve porcine capacitated sperm motility, cAMP concentration after capacitation sperm, acrosome reaction ability, and embryo division during IVF and provides new clues to explore the mechanism of OPN’s function on sperm.

Sperm osteopontin mRNA expression levels and its correlation on semen quality and fertility in Madura bulls

“…Osteopontin (OPN) plays a role in fertilization, bone remodeling, immunological modulation, inflammation, and vascularization (Singh et al 2018;Vianello et al 2020;Willforss et al 2021). Supplementation of OPN in in vitro medium or sperm treated with OPN resulted in higher fertilization, cleavage, and embryo development in cattle (Moura et al 2018), Bubalus bubalis (buffalo) (Boccia et al 2013), and Sus scrofa domesticus (porcine) (Chen et al 2022). These findings provide credence to the idea that OPN is a protein that is required for successful fertilization and early embryo development.…”

“…In addition to this, OPN has the ability to atJejutach to oocyte integrins and plays a role in egg-sperm recognition (Rorie et al 2016;Pilane et al 2020). On the other hand, OPN mRNA has been found in bull seminiferous tubules; however, this OPN mRNA was only shown to be connected with particular stages of the seminiferous cycle (Chen et al 2022). This suggests that OPN from the accessory gland and its synthesis in the seminiferous tubules may be controlled by events that regulate spermatogenesis and enhanced the functional features of the sperm, respectively.…”