RT Journal Article
T1 Location of aquaporins 3, 7 and 10 in frozen-thawed ejaculated and cauda epididymal spermatozoa from the Iberian ibex, mouflon, and chamois
A1 Pequeño, Belén
A1 Martínez Madrid, Carmen Belén
A1 Castaño, Cristina
A1 Toledano-Díaz, Adolfo
A1 Bóveda, Paula
A1 Esteso, Milagros C.
A1 Gómez-Guillamón, Félix
A1 Prieto, Paloma
A1 Marcos-Beltrán, Jaime L.
A1 Alvarez-Rodriguez, Manuel
A1 Rodriguez-Martinez, Heriberto
A1 Santiago-Moreno, Julián
AB Spermatozoa collected from the cauda epididymis of wild ruminants are more cryoresistant than ejaculated spermatozoa. Changes in the membrane location of aquaporins (AQPs) follow the osmotic changes that occur during freeze-thawing, and might influence the cryosurvival of spermatozoa depending on their source. This work reports the location of AQP3, AQP7 and AQP10 in the cauda epididymal and post-ejaculation spermatozoa of three wild mountain ungulate species (Iberian ibex, mouflon, and chamois), as determined by Western blotting (WB) and immunocytochemistry (ICC) using commercial rabbit polyclonal primary antibodies. WB confirmed the presence of all three AQPs in the spermatozoa of all the studied species, while ICC showed AQP3 to be mainly located in the sperm acrosome, mid-piece, principal piece, and end piece, both in cauda epididymal and ejaculated cells. The percentage of ejaculated spermatozoa showing AQP3 in the principal piece was higher in the ibex than in the chamois (P < 0.05), and higher in epididymal spermatozoa in the mouflon than in the chamois (P < 0.05). AQP7 was located in the acrosome of both epididymal and ejaculated spermatozoa, as well as in the cytoplasmic droplet of the epididymal spermatozoa of all three species. No differences were seen between the species with respect to the percentage of spermatozoa showing AQP7. AQP10 was located mainly in the mid-piece, principal piece and end piece of the sperm tail in both epididymal and ejaculated spermatozoa. The percentage of mouflon spermatozoa with AQP10 in the end piece was higher in the cauda epididymal than in the ejaculated spermatozoa (P < 0.05). In conclusion, except for AQP10 in the mouflon, the locations of the studied AQPs are similar in epididymal and ejaculated spermatozoa, with inter-species differences seen only for AQP3. Further studies are needed to determine what this might mean with respect to sperm cryopreservation.
PB Elsevier
SN 2773-093X
YR 2023
FD 2023-02-26
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/102534
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/102534
LA eng
NO Pequeño B, Martínez-Madrid B, Castaño C, Toledano-Díaz A, Bóveda P, Esteso MC, Gómez-Guillamón F, Prieto P, Marcos-Beltrán JL, Alvarez-Rodriguez M, Rodriguez-Martinez H, Santiago-Moreno J. Location of aquaporins 3, 7 and 10 in frozen-thawed ejaculated and cauda epididymal spermatozoa from the Iberian ibex, mouflon, and chamois. Theriogenology Wild. 2023 Feb 26;2:100025
NO Pequeño B was the recipient of a grant for pre-doctoral researchers from AEI (PRE2018–085637).
NO Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI)
NO Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
NO FEDER
DS Docta Complutense
RD 22 abr 2025