Alkaline Dilution Alters Sperm Motility in Dairy Goat by Affecting sAC/cAMP/PKA Pathway Activity

In dairy goat farming, increasing the female kid rate is beneficial to milk production and is, therefore, economically beneficial to farms. Our previous study demonstrated that alkaline incubation enriched the concentration of X-chromosome-bearing sperm; however, the mechanism by which pH affects the motility of X-chromosome-bearing sperm remains unclear. In this study, we explored this mechanism by incubating dairy goat sperm in alkaline dilutions, examining the pattern of changes in sperm internal pH and Ca2+ concentrations and investigating the role of the sAC/cAMP/PKA pathway in influencing sperm motility. The results showed that adding a calcium channel inhibitor during incubation resulted in a concentration-dependent decrease in the proportion of spermatozoa with forward motility, and the sperm sAC protein activity was positively correlated with the calcium ion concentration (r = 0.9972). The total motility activity, proportion of forward motility, and proportion of X-chromosome-bearing sperm decreased (p < 0.05) when cAMP/PKA protease activity was inhibited. Meanwhile, the enrichment of X-chromosome-bearing sperm by pH did not affect the sperm capacitation state. These results indicate that alkaline dilution incubation reduces Ca2+ entry into X-sperm and the motility was slowed down through the sAC/cAMP/PKA signaling pathway, providing a theoretical foundation for further optimization of the sex control method.

Automated summary

In dairy goat farming, increasing the female kid rate is economically beneficial. Alkaline incubation enriches the concentration of X-chromosome-bearing sperm, but the mechanism by which pH affects this sperm's motility remains unclear. This study revealed that the sAC/cAMP/PKA signaling pathway plays a role in influencing sperm motility, as inhibiting its protease activity resulted in decreased motility. The results suggest that alkaline dilution incubation slows down the motility of X-sperm through reduced Ca2+ entry, providing a theoretical foundation for further optimization of sex control methods.