Long-term cryopreservation of mouse sperm.
The objective was to determine if mouse sperm can maintain their fertilizing ability after being frozen for >10 y and whether the offspring derived from these sperm had normal fertilizing ability and phenotype. We cryopreserved sperm from six strains of mice (C57BL/6J, DBA/2N, BALB/cA, C3H/HeJ, B6D2F1 and B6C3F1) in a solution containing 18% (w/v) raffinose and 3% (w/v) skim milk, and preserved them in liquid nitrogen for >10 y. To assess the normality and fertilizing ability of these sperms, they were thawed and used for in vitro fertilization of oocytes of the same strains. Fertilization rates for C57BL/6J, DBA/2N, BALB/cA, C3H/HeJ, B6D2F1 and B6C3F1 were 66.4, 92.3, 72.8, 32.9, 60.3 and 53.7%, respectively. Furthermore, 38.3, 15.0, 43.3, 26.1, 38.3 and 16.7% of the embryos transferred to pseudopregnant females developed and produced live offspring that had normal phenotype and fertility.
Kaneko
Takehito
T
Division of Reproductive Engineering, Center for Animal Resources and Development (CARD), Kumamoto University, 2-2-1 Honjo, Kumamoto 860-0811, Japan.
Yamamura
Ayako
A
Ide
Yukie
Y
Ogi
Mami
M
Yanagita
Tomoko
T
Nakagata
Naomi
N
D000818:Animals; D015925:Cryopreservation / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*; D004624:Embryo Transfer / Q000662:veterinary; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro / Q000662:veterinary; D008098:Litter Size; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D010641:Phenotype; D011247:Pregnancy; D018873:Pregnancy Rate; D012662:Semen Preservation / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors