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FE-SEM Characterization of α-Mannose Density and Surface Mapping Changes in Human Sperm Head During In Vitro Capacitation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2020

María José Gómez-Torres Open the ORCID record for María José Gómez-Torres [Opens in a new window] ,
Laura Robles-Gómez Open the ORCID record for Laura Robles-Gómez [Opens in a new window] ,
Natalia Huerta-Retamal Open the ORCID record for Natalia Huerta-Retamal [Opens in a new window] ,
Paula Sáez-Espinosa Open the ORCID record for Paula Sáez-Espinosa [Opens in a new window] ,
Manuel Avilés Open the ORCID record for Manuel Avilés [Opens in a new window] ,
Jon Aizpurua Open the ORCID record for Jon Aizpurua [Opens in a new window]  and
Alejandro Romero Open the ORCID record for Alejandro Romero [Opens in a new window]
María José Gómez-Torres*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Biotecnología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Alicante, Ap. C. 99, Alicante 03080, Spain Cátedra Human Fertility, Universidad de Alicante, Alicante, Spain
Laura Robles-Gómez
Affiliation:
Departamento de Biotecnología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Alicante, Ap. C. 99, Alicante 03080, Spain
Natalia Huerta-Retamal
Affiliation:
Departamento de Biotecnología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Alicante, Ap. C. 99, Alicante 03080, Spain
Paula Sáez-Espinosa
Affiliation:
Departamento de Biotecnología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Alicante, Ap. C. 99, Alicante 03080, Spain
Manuel Avilés
Affiliation:
Departamento de Biología Celular e Histología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Murcia e IMIB-Arrixaca, Murcia, Spain
Jon Aizpurua
Affiliation:
IVF Spain, Reproductive Medicine, Alicante, Spain
Alejandro Romero
Affiliation:
Departamento de Biotecnología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Alicante, Ap. C. 99, Alicante 03080, Spain
*
*Author for correspondence: María José Gómez-Torres, E-mail: mjose.gomez@ua.es
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Abstract

Sperm capacitation includes the reorganization of plasma membrane components and the outstanding modification of the glycocalyx. The α-mannose presence and location during in vitro capacitation have been commonly described in human spermatozoa using Concanavalin A (Con A) lectin. However, it is still unclear to date how in vitro capacitation time affects the α-mannose residues and their topographic spatial distribution on sperm membrane. Here, we characterized the α-mannose density and specific membrane domain locations before and after in vitro capacitation (1–4 h) using high-resolution field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). Results showed that α-mannose residues were present preferably on the acrosome domains for all physiological conditions. Uncapacitated sperm comparatively exhibits significant highest labeling densities of α-mannose residues. In addition, as in vitro capacitation takes place, significant and progressive decreasing of sugar residues was combined with their relocation mostly affecting acrosomal domain apical areas. Our findings reveal that combined approach using FE-SEM and gold nanoparticle topographical mapping offers new human sperm biomolecular and structural details during capacitation events.

Keywords

Concanavalin AFE-SEMgold labelingin vitro capacitationspermatozoa
Type
Biological Applications
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 26 , Issue 6 , December 2020 , pp. 1220 - 1225
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

a

M. J. Gómez-Torres and L. Robles-Gómez contributed equally as co-first authors.

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