earticle

영어

Preservation of sperm is essential for long-term storage of valuable animal genetic resources and for the conservation of threatened mammalian species undergoing progressive extinction. In this study, using pig as a model system, we evaluated the feasibility of germ-plasm preservation via sperm cell lyophilization. We show that, pig sperm can be successfully lyophilized and stored in a liquid nitrogen-free condition for at least 6 months. Intracytoplasmic injection of lyophilized sperm (ICSI), stored at 4℃ for four months, into in vitro matured pig oocytes could successfully develop up to blastocyst stage (13.0±3.0%). Lyophilized sperm could also be stored at room temperature for at least three weeks without further compromising their in vitro development up to the blastocyst stage (14.6±3.2 vs. 16.6±5.1%; p>0.05). Blastocysts produced from ICSI of lyophilized sperm stored at 4℃ or room temperature contained similar number of cells per blastocyst (44.9±3.2 vs. 44.0±4.3; p>0.05) but was significantly lower than those produced from non-lyophilized fresh sperm (52.1±5.8 p>0.05). Interestingly, use of a custom-designed HEPES-buffered, calcium-free, defined medium for the lyophilization resulted in normal post-ICSI embryonic development up to blastula stage (23.4±2.8 vs. 24.0±2.9%) and, the resultant blastocysts contained similar number of cells per blastocyst (47.9±4.3 vs. 50.6±7.0) compared to those generated from non-lyophilized fresh sperm (p>0.05). These lyophilized sperm could also be stored at room temperature for at least three weeks with slight reduction in post-ICSI embryonic development (19.6±1.4%). Therefore, these results suggest that, pig sperm could be successfully and efficiently lyophilized for their long-term storage at 4℃. Lyophilization of sperm could be a practical option for long-term storage of mammalian germ-plasm.