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Cauda Epididymis-Specific Beta-Defensin 126 Promotes Sperm Motility but Not Fertilizing Ability in Cattle
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2016-10-05
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Fernandez-Fuertes B, Narciandi F, O'Farrelly C, Kelly AK, Fair S, Meade KG, Lonergan P. Cauda Epididymis-Specific Beta-Defensin 126 Promotes Sperm Motility but Not Fertilizing Ability in Cattle. Biol Reprod. 2016 Dec;95(6):122. doi: 10.1095/biolreprod.116.138792
Abstract
Bovine beta-defensin 126 (BBD126) exhibits preferential
expression for the cauda epididymis of males, where it is
absorbed onto the tail and postacrosomal region of the sperm.
The aim of this study was to examine the role of BBD126 in bull
sperm function. Fresh and frozen-thawed semen were incubated
in the presence of different capacitating agents as well as with
phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C. These treatments,
which have been successful in releasing beta-defensin 126 from
macaque sperm, proved to be ineffective in bull sperm. This
finding suggests that the protein behaves in a different manner in
the bovine. The lack of success in removing BBD126 led us to
use corpus epididymis sperm, a model in which the protein is not
present, to study its functional role. Corpus sperm were
incubated with cauda epididymal fluid (CEF) in the absence or
presence of BBD126 antibody or with recombinant BBD126
(rBBD126). Confocal microscopy revealed that rBBD126 binds
to corpus sperm with the same pattern observed for BBD126 in
cauda sperm, whereas an aberrant binding pattern is observed
when sperm are subject to CEF incubation. Addition of CEF
increased motility as well as the number of corpus sperm
migrating through cervical mucus from estrus cows. However, it
decreased the ability of sperm to fertilize in vitro matured
oocytes. The presence of the antibody failed to abrogate these
effects. Furthermore, when rBBD126 was added in the absence
of other factors and proteins from the CEF, an increase in
motility was also observed and no negative effects in fertility
were seen. These results suggest that BBD126 plays a key role in
the acquisition of sperm motility in the epididymis.