This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Aparicio, I M Articles by Garcia-Marin, L J Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Aparicio, I M Articles by Garcia-Marin, L J

Inhibition of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase modifies boar sperm motion parameters

Departamento de Medicina y Sanidad Animal, Área de Reproducción and ¹ Departamento de Fisiología, Universidad de Extremadura, Cáceres, Spain

Correspondence should be addressed to L J Garcia-Marin, Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Extremadura, Avda. de la Universidad, s/n, 10071 Cáceres 10071, Spain; Email: ljgarcia{at}unex.es

Motility is the most widely used indicator of sperm quality. Besides modulation by the cAMP pathway little is known regarding the intracellular pathways that regulate boar sperm motility. Recently the role of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-K) in the regulation of human sperm motility has been described. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the role of PI3-K in boar sperm kinematics by using the specific PI3-K inhibitor, LY294002. Boar sperm was incubated up to 1 h in non-capacitating medium in the presence or absence of the cAMP analog, 8Br-cAMP or the PI3-K inhibitor, LY294002 or both. Boar sperm incubated in capacitating medium was treated in the presence or absence of LY294002. First, we have clearly identified that PI3-K is present in whole lysates of boar spermatozoa. Inhibition of PI3-K significantly increased boar sperm straight-line velocity, circular velocity and average velocity without an effect on the percentage of progressively motile spermatozoa in both media. Inhibition of PI3-K induced the same effects on boar sperm velocities as activation of the cAMP/protein kinase A (PKA) pathway and treatment with the PI3-K inhibitor, LY294002 had neither summatory nor synergic effects on boar sperm motion parameters when treated simultaneously with the cAMP analog 8Br-cAMP. Our data suggest that PI3-K plays a negative role, regulating boar sperm motion parameters through a possible inhibition of the cAMP/PKA activating pathway, and since some Computer Aided Sperm Analysis (CASA)-derived parameters have been related to field fertility our results point to the possibility of modulating sperm motile quality by modifying the PI3-K cellular pathway.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				I M Aparicio, M J Bragado, M C Gil, M Garcia-Herreros, L Gonzalez-Fernandez, J A Tapia, and L J Garcia-Marin Porcine sperm motility is regulated by serine phosphorylation of the glycogen synthase kinase-3{alpha} Reproduction, September 1, 2007; 134(3): 435 - 444. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. Etkovitz, S. Rubinstein, L. Daniel, and H. Breitbart Role of PI3-Kinase and PI4-Kinase in Actin Polymerization During Bovine Sperm Capacitation Biol Reprod, August 1, 2007; 77(2): 263 - 273. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]