ABSTRACT
Genital bacterial infection is one of the most important causes of infertility, however, bacteria frequently exist in seminal fluid. Sperm express Toll-like receptors (TLRs) on their cell surfaces and bacterial recognition by TLRs induces sperm apoptosis. In this study, we examined the lactoferrin (LF) potentiality on sperm apoptosis induced by bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The TdT-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay indicated that TUNEL-positive sperm cells were scarce in the group treated with LF and LPS (LF/LPS group) compared to the group treated with LPS only (LPS group). In addition, real-time RT-PCR detected lower mRNA expression levels of apoptosis-associated genes in the LF/LPS group compared to the LPS group. These results indicate that LF treatment of semen might decrease LPS-induced apoptosis of sperm.
Subject(s)
Lactoferrin , Lipopolysaccharides , Animals , Apoptosis , Injections, Intraperitoneal/veterinary , Lipopolysaccharides/toxicity , Male , Mice , SpermatozoaABSTRACT
The effect of lactoferrin (LF) on embryo development was investigated by using lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated mouse sperm. For the development rate of the 2-cell stage embryo, the embryo derived from LPS- and LF-treated sperm showed similar survival rate to the control embryo. On day 12 after the embryo transfer into the recipient, the frequent abnormality was observed in the embryo derived from LPS-treated sperm, and the abnormality was tended to be inhibited in the embryo derived from LPS- and LF-treated sperm. These results imply that LF treatment on sperm contaminated with bacteria may facilitate the embryo development, which contribute to the improvement of infertility.
Subject(s)
Lactoferrin , Lipopolysaccharides , Animals , Embryonic Development , Lipopolysaccharides/toxicity , Male , Mice , SpermatozoaABSTRACT
We developed a novel in vitro antibody (Ab) generation system using a hypermutating chicken B cell line (DT40-SW). We suppressed the expression of the Pax5 transcription factor by targeted disruption of the gene to increase Ab production in isolated clones and produce the desired Abs. This single genetic manipulation resulted in a significant enhancement of Ab production without significantly affecting maximum cell density.
