MOUSE SPERM CHROMOSOME SUSCEPTIBILITY TO POST-TESTICULAR OXIDATIVE DNA DAMAGE
In order to maintain a redox balance in and around spermatozoa during epididymal maturation and storage, a finely tuned control of oxidative stress has been developed. To study the effects of post-testicular oxidative damage on mammalian sperm structure and function we generated the gpx5-/- mouse strain a transgenic mouse model lacking glutathione peroxidase-5, a key epididymal luminal antioxidant scavenger. In the present study we have attempted to further characterize the mouse sperm chromosomal regions and DNA sequences most sensitive to post-testicular oxidative damage. To do so, we carried out a sperm DNA immunoprecipitation scheme (hereby designed as the OxiDIP protocol) using an anti-8-OHdG antibody that specifically recognizes oxidized guanine residues, a classical signature of DNA oxidative damage in wild-type and gpx5-/- mouse sperm. OxiDIP recovered DNAs were subjected to next generation sequencing on the Illumina Hi-Seq 2500 platform.