title: Sperm motility activation, sperm heterogeneity and sperm-female tract interactions in Bennett's wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus rufogriseus).
abstract: Sperm-oviduct interactions in Bennett's wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus rufogriseus) were investigated using in vitro cocultures of cauda epididymal spermatozoa and oviducal epithelial cells. Kidney epithelial cells were used as non-reproductive control tissues. Spermatozoa attached to epithelial cells of both origins, but sperm survival and activity was higher when cocultured with oviducal cells. New findings during live sperm-epithelial interactions included: (1) a high frequency of reversible head movements, from linear (streamlined configuration) to T shape (thumbtack configuration) in swimming spermatozoa immediately after the start of coculture; (2) the loss of sperm tails (tail shedding) increasing with time; and (3) interrupted swimming patterns, where periods of fast movement were interspersed with slower swimming while the spermatozoa interacted with the epithelial cell surface. Sperm motility activation responses were characterised after diluting the epididymal samples in phosphate-buffered saline, medium M199 and Tyrode's medium. The results confirmed that the marsupial oviduct is able to support the viability and motility of a sperm subpopulation for at least 20 h in vitro and suggest that some spermatozoa shed their tails after binding, possibly as a result of a selective process.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology, Regent's Park, London, UK.
authors.forename: Janneke
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Boere
authors.forename: Daniela Esteban
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Díaz
authors.forename: William V
authors.initials: WV
authors.lastname: Holt
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000836:Animals, Zoo; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000502:physiology*; D002470:Cell Survival; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005187:Fallopian Tubes / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007614:Macropodidae / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D055101:Semen Analysis; D013081:Sperm Motility / Q000502:physiology*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology