title: Incubation of sperm heads impairs fertilization and early embryo development following intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) by decreasing oocyte activation in mice.
abstract: When intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is performed in mice, isolation of sperm heads is usually performed prior to injections in order to increase the efficiency of the procedure. Consequently, the isolated sperm heads undergo an inevitable incubation in vitro. However, little is known about the effects of this incubation step on fertilization and embryo development following ICSI. When we incubated sperm heads at 37 °C, there was a significant time-dependent decrease in fertilization and blastocyst formation. Moreover, the DNA integrity of the sperm heads was maintained over 12 h incubation. Using assisted oocyte activation, these defects in fertilization and embryo development were rescued. Taken together, incubation of sperm heads following isolation can affect the oocyte-activating capacity of sperm thereby compromising fertilization and embryo development associated with ICSI.
authors.affiliation: Department of Assisted Reproduction, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital Affiliated Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 639 Zhizaoju Road, Shanghai, 200011, People's Republic of China, longhuish@yahoo.com.cn.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Long
authors.forename: Sheng-Sheng
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Yan-Ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Kuang
authors.forename: Zhi-Guang
authors.initials: ZG
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Hong-Xing
authors.initials: HX
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Sha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Wei-Ran
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Chai
authors.forename: Zheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Qi-Feng
authors.initials: QF
authors.lastname: Lyu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D047108:Embryonic Development; D005260:Female; D005306:Fertilization; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D009865:Oocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D013077:Sperm Head / Q000502:physiology*; D020554:Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors