Journal
CARBON
Volume 129, Issue -, Pages 428-437Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbon.2017.12.042
Keywords
Spermatozoa; Graphene oxide; In vitro fertilization; Membranes; Cholesterol
Funding
- MarieSklodowska-Curie ITN REP-BIOTECH [675526]
- European Joint Doctorate in Biology and Technology of the Reproductive Health
- Marie Curie Actions (MSCA) [675526] Funding Source: Marie Curie Actions (MSCA)
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We realized the exposure of boar spermatozoa to graphene oxide (GO) at concentration of 0.5, 1, 5, 10 and 50 mu g/mL in an in vitro system able to promote the capacitation, i.e. the process that allows sperm cells to became fertile. Interestingly, we found that the highest GO concentration (5, 10 and 50 mu g/mL) are toxic for spermatozoa, while the lowest ones (0.5 and 1 mu g/mL) seem to significantly increase the sperm cells fertilizing ability (p > .05) in an in vitro fertilization experiment. To explain this finding, we investigated the effect of GO on sperm membrane structure (atomic force microscopy) and function (confocal microscopy and flow cytometry, substrate adhesion). As a result, we found that GO is able to interact with spermatozoa membranes and, in particular, it seems to be able to extract the cholesterol, which is a key player in spermatozoa physiology, from plasma membrane of boar spermatozoa incubated under capacitation conditions. In our opinion, these results are very important because they allow identifying either a plausible mechanism of GO toxicity on spermatozoa and new strategies to manage sperm capacitation. (c) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
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