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Small RNAs Gained during Epididymal Transit of Sperm Are Essential for Embryonic Development in Mice.

ABSTRACT: The small RNA payload of mammalian sperm undergoes dramatic remodeling during development, as several waves of microRNAs and tRNA fragments are shipped to sperm during post-testicular maturation in the epididymis. Here, we take advantage of this developmental process to probe the function of the sperm RNA payload in preimplantation development. We generated zygotes via intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) using sperm obtained from the proximal (caput) versus distal (cauda) epididymis and then characterized the development of the resulting embryos. Embryos generated using caput sperm significantly overexpress multiple regulatory factors throughout preimplantation development, subsequently implant inefficiently, and fail soon after implantation. Remarkably, microinjection of purified cauda-specific small RNAs into caput-derived embryos not only completely rescued preimplantation molecular defects but also suppressed the post-implantation embryonic lethality phenotype. These findings reveal an essential role for small RNA remodeling during post-testicular maturation of mammalian sperm and identify a specific preimplantation gene expression program responsive to sperm-delivered microRNAs.

SUBMITTER: Conine CC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6103825 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Small RNAs Gained during Epididymal Transit of Sperm Are Essential for Embryonic Development in Mice.

Conine Colin C CC Sun Fengyun F Song Lina L Rivera-Pérez Jaime A JA Rando Oliver J OJ

Developmental cell 20180726 4

The small RNA payload of mammalian sperm undergoes dramatic remodeling during development, as several waves of microRNAs and tRNA fragments are shipped to sperm during post-testicular maturation in the epididymis. Here, we take advantage of this developmental process to probe the function of the sperm RNA payload in preimplantation development. We generated zygotes via intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) using sperm obtained from the proximal (caput) versus distal (cauda) epididymis and then ...[more]

PMID: 30057276

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Project description:AbstractIn laboratory mice, sperm quality is usually assessed in spermatozoa collected from the cauda epididymidis of freshly sacrificed males. Percutaneous epididymal sperm aspiration (PESA) is a non-terminal alternative that would allow repeated sperm collection for sperm quality assessment in living males. To test whether PESA is a suitable method to assess sperm quality, we compared sperm traits between samples collected by PESA vs the commonly applied terminal cauda epididymidis dissection. The collected sperm samples were analyzed using computer-assisted sperm analysis and various parameters, including sperm motility, swimming velocity and morphology, were determined. We were able to retrieve motile sperm from all mice using PESA and the terminal cauda epididymidis dissection. Based on computer-assisted sperm analysis, however, sperm motility and swimming velocity were significantly lower after PESA compared to samples obtained by cauda epididymidis dissection. In addition, we found significantly more morphological abnormalities in PESA samples, probably induced as a side effect of the sampling technique. Although sperm samples collected by PESA are successfully used for in vitro fertilization, we cannot recommend PESA as a suitable method to assess sperm quality in mice, since the procedure seems to impair various sperm traits.Lay summaryIn mice, sperm quality is usually assessed in sperm collected from the epididymis (organ where ripe sperm is stored) of euthanized males. However, there is one non-terminal and minimal invasive alternative to collect sperm, called percutaneous epididymal sperm aspiration (PESA), which allows repeated sample collections from the same individual. Given that individual sperm quality is variable and can change according to various factors, PESA could allow to track sperm quality over time and would be highly appreciated in different research fields. Here, we tested the suitability of PESA to determine sperm quality by comparing sperm samples collected by PESA vs the commonly applied terminal epididymis dissection. We used computer-assisted sperm analysis to determine various sperm quality traits. Surprisingly, we found that sperm collected by PESA showed significantly reduced motility, swimming velocity and more morphological abnormalities compared to sperm samples collected by epididymis dissection. Thus, we cannot recommend PESA as a suitable method to determine sperm quality traits as the procedure itself seems to affect collected sperm cells.

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Small RNAs Gained during Epididymal Transit of Sperm Are Essential for Embryonic Development in Mice.

Publications

Small RNAs Gained during Epididymal Transit of Sperm Are Essential for Embryonic Development in Mice.

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