• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• 제32권2호
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• pp.123-126
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• 2008

The objective of this study was to determine the potential hazardous effects of sorting process by flowcytometry on the quality of boar spermatozoa by flowcytometer. Freshly collected boar semen was diluted and divided into two groups; control none sorted and sorted. Sperms in sorted group were processed with flowcytometer for cell sorting with $100\;{\mu}M$ nozzle under the 20 psi pressure. Measurements on each parameter were made at two time points, 0hr (right after sorting) and 24 hr post sorting. Although there was a tendency of lower viability in sorted group than none sorted control group, the percentage of live cells in control ($75.83{\pm}6.92\;&\;59.53{\pm}10.34$) was not significantly different from sorted ($59.70{\pm}7.37\;&\;43.97{\pm}3.76$) at both 0 and 24 hr post sorting. However, sorted sperm showed significantly lower mitochondrial function compared to the control at both 0 h ($79.37{\pm}3.22\;vs.\;63.50{\pm}10.05$) and 24 hr ($67.27{\pm}3.22$ vs. $46.97{\pm}5.37$) time points (p<0.007). Sperm DNA fragmentation rate was significantly lower in control ($22.0{\pm}7.04$) than that of sorted ($32.27{\pm}7.49$) at 24 hr time point (p<0.0002). Taken together, these data suggested thatsorting process by flowcytometer may have influenced sperm motility rather than viability. Also high speed sperm sorting by flowcytometer has significant effects on DNA fragmentation on elapsed time after sorting.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• 제34권4호
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• pp.327-335
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• 2010

We reported previously that the administration of Korean red ginseng water extract (KRG-WE) protected the guinea pig testis against damage induced by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (a potent endocrine disruptor). We also found that crude saponin from ginseng was the active ingredient responsible for this protection. Here, we examined the biological role of KRG-WE in an animal model of age-induced dysfunction of spermatogenesis. Twenty-four male Sprague-Dawley (six 2-month-old and eighteen 12-month-old) rats were used. The young and old control groups received only vehicle. The ginseng saponin (GS)- and KRG-WE-treated groups received GS (40 mg/kg body weight/day) and KRG-WE (200 mg/kg body weight/day), respectively, for 4 months. The number of cells, Sertoli cell index, Johnsen's score, and sex hormone levels decreased significantly with age. However, the administration of KRG-WE and GS markedly improved the number of germ cells, seminiferous tubular size, and Johnsen's score in the old rats. Ginseng produced a distinct testicular histological improvement in old rats. KRG-WE and GS elevated testosterone levels, while attenuating the aberrant increase in follicle stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone levels. Sperm kinematics evaluated by a computer-assisted sperm analyzer demonstrated improvement in the percentage of motile sperm, progressive sperm motility, and curvilinear velocity associated with sperm quality, supporting the beneficial role of red ginseng in senile spermatogenesis. Overall, the total water extract had a more potent effect than the corresponding saponin fraction. In conclusion, Korean red ginseng rejuvenated age-induced testicular dysfunction. Additionally, the total water extract was more potent than the corresponding saponin fraction.

• 한국수정란이식학회지
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• 제16권1호
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• pp.35-40
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• 2001

Artificial insemination (AI) with frozen or cooled semen is widely used in commercial fields of cattle and pig. Little is known about characteristics of canine sperm after freezing or cooling. For both practical and commercial goal, the canine semen treated with cooling and freezing should be carried out to exam the fundamentals, including sperm motility, survivability and fertilizing capacity. The aim of this study, thus, was to identify the effects of extended exposure to 4$0^{\circ}C$ on canine semen by motility, survivability, acrosomal changes following different duration. Fifteen ejaculates collected by digital manipulation twice per week from 3 dogs (Shih-Tzu) were divided to 16 aliquots after adding Tris-egg yolk (TE) buffer formulated by our laboratory, and cooled from 37 to 4$^{\circ}C$, by ramp rate of 0.6$^{\circ}C$/min. Each sample was evaluated by their motility, survivability and the acrosomal status at 0h (control), 2h, 12h and 1 d~10 d, respectively. The motility of spermatozoa was graded to 6 levels using the modified method of Seager. The survivability of sperm was assessed using an epifluorescence microscope after Fert/Light (Mole-cular Probes Inc.) staining. To estimate the proportion of the spermatozoa of intact acrosome, 200 spermatozoa were assessed in randomly selected fields, using epifluorescence microscope after FITC/PSA (Sigma) staining. At 2 h after cooling, the motility of most spermatozoa were assessed to be grade 0 and 1. At 12 h, high number of sperm were in grade 0 to 1, however, it was significantly (P<0.05) lower than that of 2 h. From 1 d to 4 d, ~50% of sperm was assessed to grade 0 to 1. On day 7, a little sperm were in grade 0 to 1. No sperm showed motility on day 10. Sperm motility was rapidly reduced by the percent of 10% of grade 0 to 1. From 2 h to 6 h, the number of live sperm was 90% and the sperm chilled for 10 days lived>50%. Acrosomal intact of spermatozoa exposed to 4$^{\circ}C$ for 2 h was 51%, supposed the sperm of control was 100%. Our results suggest that 1) this is easy to transfer and preservation for short periods 2) AI can be used by semen chilled for 6-Day.

• 한국수정란이식학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국수정란이식학회 2002년도 국제심포지엄
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• pp.69-69
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• 2002

Transgenic animals production tools have been valuable for research and purpose. The current methods of gene transfer, microinjection and nuclear transfer, which are widely used in transgenic animal production, but all most methods has only had limited success in production of larger species. Here, we report the possibility of a sperm-mediated gene transfer method in porcine embryos. Oocytes were collected from ovaries harvested at a local slaughterhouse were matured in 500${mu}ell$ drops of TCM-199 under mineral oil at 38.5$^{\circ}C$ in a humidified atmosphere of 5%CO2 in air. After 42-43h of in vitro maturation oocytes were denuded. for sperm injection into the cytoplasm of the porcine oocytes, sperm suspension in NIM medium are subjected extraction with TritonX-100 before mixing with a green fluorescent gene (GFP). Sperm with Tritonx-100 were prepared by adding TritonX-100 to a final volume of 0.05% in the sperm suspension and mixing by trituration for 60s before two wishes in NIM medium at 2$^{\circ}C$. A(ter wishing, sperm were mixed with TritonX-100 at $25^{\circ}C$ followed by washes at 2$^{\circ}C$. Sperm were resuspended in ice cold NIM to a final volume of 400${mu}ell$ and 2-20ng/${mu}ell$ DNA were triturated on ice for 60s. All microinjection was performed in HEPES-buffered CZB medium at room temperature within 2h. After culture in NCSU-23 for 72h, percent of porcine embryos transfected GFP gene are 20.7%(6/29) in 20ng/${mu}ell$ sperm-DNA mixed group and other groups were 3.7 %(2/54)and 4.7%(3/67). These data suggests that sperm-mediated gene transfer method should be used to the production tool of transgenic pig efficiently.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제27권10호
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• pp.1417-1425
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• 2014

The selection of morphologically normal spermatozoa is critical to obtain high breeding performances in boar breeding farms and artificial insemination (AI) centers. Parameters for the selection of semen mainly include total sperm motility, concentration, and morphology. However, these primary parameters are often not reliable for discriminating between normal and abnormal, non-fertilizable spermatozoa. The present study was designed to compare the motion characteristics, fertilization ability using in vitro fertilization (IVF), and acrosome formation of the semen from boars having low (boar number 2012) and normal (boar number 2004 and 2023) breeding performances. The ultimate goal was to identify additional simple and easy criteria for the selection of normal sperm. There was no significant difference between boar 2004 and boar 2023 sperm total motility in computer assisted sperm analysis. However, boar number 2012 semen presented a significantly reduced population of rapid moving spermatozoa and an increased population of slow moving spermatozoa compared to boar numbers 2004 and 2023. Analysis of detailed motion characteristics revealed that sperm from boar number 2012 had significantly reduced motility in progressiveness, average path velocity, straight-line velocity (VSL), curvilinear velocity (VCL), straightness, and linearity. The assessment of the fertilizing ability by IVF also showed that sperm from boar number 2012 showed a fertility rate of 3.4%, whereas sperm from boar number 2023 had a fertility rate of 75.45%. Interestingly, most of the sperm nuclei were found on the peripheral area of the oocytes, suggesting that the sperm from boar number 2012 lacked penetration ability into the oocyte zonapellucida. The acrosome formation analysis using Pisum sativum agglutinin staining demonstrated that the sperm from boar number 2012 had a defect in acrosome formation. Consequently, primary parameters for selecting semen before AI such as motility are not sufficient to select normal and fertilizable spermatozoa. In conclusion, the present study suggests that the acrosome staining and detailed motion characteristics such as progressiveness, VCL, and VSL should be included in determining semen quality together with primary parameters for successful AI and high breeding performance in the swine industry.

• 한국가축번식학회지
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• 제26권1호
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• pp.1-7
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• 2002

본 연구는 mTCM-199, mWaymouth MB 752/1 그리고 NCSU-23 성숙배지에서 성숙시킨 난포란을 mTBM 수정배지에서 액상정액의 정자를 이용하여 주입정자 농도별로 체외 수정시킴으로써 액상정액을 이용한 새로운 체외수정 방법을 개발하고자 실시하였다. 미성숙 난포란은 0.5 $m\ell$의 성숙배지에 각 well 당 30~40개씩 적하하였다. 액상정액 제조용 정액은 90% 이상의 운동성을 가진 농후정자부분을 사용하였으며 정액채취 후 2시간 동안에 22~24$^{\circ}C$의 실온까지 냉각시켰다. 실온까지 냉각한 정액은 BTS 희석액으로 2$\times$$10^{8}$ $m\ell$ 정자농도로 조정하여 100$m\ell$ 플라스틱병에 30 $m\ell$씩 주입하여 17$^{\circ}C$에서 5일 보관하였다. 5일 보관후 운동성이 70% 이상인 정자를 체외수정에 이용하였다. 38.5$^{\circ}C$, 5% $CO_2$, 95% 공기로 조절된 CO2 배양기에서 44시간 성숙 후 cumulus cell들이 제거된 성숙 난포란은 0.5 $m\ell$의 mTBM 수정배지에 30~40개씩 적하하고 최종정자농도를 1, 2, 4, 6 그리고 10$\times$$10^{6}$$m\ell$되도록하여 주입하고 6시간 동안 수정시켰다. 체외수정시킨 수정란들은 수정 후 6시간 동안 0.5$m\ell$의 NCSU-23 배양배지에서 배양한 후 정자침입율, 다정자침입율 그리고 웅성전핵 형성율을 조사하였다. mTCM-199, mWaymouth MB 752/1 그리고 NCSU­23 성숙배지에서 성숙시킨 난포란을 mTBM 수정배지에서 액상정 액으로 체외수정 한 결과 NCSU-23 성숙배지에서 성숙한 난포란이 웅성전핵형성율이 높았고 다정자침입율이 낮았다. NCSU-23 성숙배지에서 성숙한 난포란을 mTBM 수정배지에서 수정할 경우 최적정자농도는 2~4$\times$$10^{6}$$m\ell$이었으며, 정자침입율은 50.8~50.9%, 다정자침입율은 13.3~19.5% 그리고 웅성전핵형 성율은 43.9~45.4%였다. 결론적으로 NCSU-23 성숙배지에서 성숙되고 mTBM 수정배지에서 수정된 난포란은 mTCM-199이나 mWaymouth MB 752/1 성숙배지에서 성숙되고 mTBM 수정배지에서 수정된 난포란보다 우수한 체외수정 결과를 나타내었다. 17$^{\circ}C$에서 5일 동안 보존한 액상정액으로 NCSU-23 배지에서 성숙한 난포란을 체외수정하기 위한 최적정자농도는 2~4$\times$$10^{6}$$m\ell$이었다.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제29권7호
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• pp.925-937
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• 2016

In the last few decades, transgenic animal technology has witnessed an increasingly wide application in animal breeding. Reproductive traits are economically important to the pig industry. It has been shown that the bone morphogenetic protein receptor type IB (BMPR1B) A746G polymorphism is responsible for the fertility in sheep. However, this causal mutation exits exclusively in sheep and goat. In this study, we attempted to create transgenic pigs by introducing this mutation with the aim to improve reproductive traits in pigs. We successfully constructed a vector containing porcine BMPR1B coding sequence (CDS) with the mutant G allele of A746G mutation. In total, we obtained 24 cloned male piglets using handmade cloning (HMC) technique, and 12 individuals survived till maturation. A set of polymerase chain reactions indicated that 11 of 12 matured boars were transgene-positive individuals, and that the transgenic vector was most likely disrupted during cloning. Of 11 positive pigs, one (No. 11) lost a part of the terminator region but had the intact promoter and the CDS regions. cDNA sequencing showed that the introduced allele (746G) was expressed in multiple tissues of transgene-positive offspring of No.11. Western blot analysis revealed that BMPR1B protein expression in multiple tissues of transgene-positive $F_1$ piglets was 0.5 to 2-fold higher than that in the transgene-negative siblings. The No. 11 boar showed normal litter size performance as normal pigs from the same breed. Transgene-positive $F_1$ boars produced by No. 11 had higher semen volume, sperm concentration and total sperm per ejaculate than the negative siblings, although the differences did not reached statistical significance. Transgene-positive $F_1$ sows had similar litter size performance to the negative siblings, and more data are needed to adequately assess the litter size performance. In conclusion, we obtained 24 cloned transgenic pigs with the modified porcine BMPR1B CDS using HMC. cDNA sequencing and western blot indicated that the exogenous BMPR1B CDS was successfully expressed in host pigs. The transgenic pigs showed normal litter size performance. However, no significant differences in litter size were found between transgene-positive and negative sows. Our study provides new insight into producing cloned transgenic livestock related to reproductive traits.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제21권3호
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• pp.340-345
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• 2008

Oxidative stress is one of the major causes of failure of in vitro storage of boar semen. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are one of the important mediators of oxidative stress during in vitro storage of boar semen. Our study examined the effects of taurine on sperm characteristic and on in vitro developmental embryos during in vitro storage of boar semen for 7 days. Semen was randomly aliquoted into 3 centrifuge tubes and treated with different concentrations of taurine (25-100 mM). The characteristics of boar sperm were analyzed for motility by light microscopy, viability by using a Makler counting chamber and membrane integrity by a hypoosmotic swelling test (HOST). The percentages of motile spermatozoa in taurine groups after 5 days were significantly higher compared to the control. Sperm viability in the control was lower than in taurine groups after 7 days irrespective of different taurine concentration. In the hyoosmotic swelling test (HOST), significantly higher results were obtained in taurine groups after 3 days. Also, the developmental rates of IVM/IVF porcine embryos from semen treated with pyruvate and taurine were significantly increased when compared with the control (p<0.05). These results indicate that supplementation of taurine as an antioxidant in boar semen extender can improve the semen quality.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• 제37권2호
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• pp.85-89
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• 2013

For more than two decades, the intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) technique has been used as a valuable tool to provide opportunities for studying fertilization, treating human infertility, and producing transgenic animals. Not only in facilitating fertilization but also in propagating mammalian species, ICSI has enhanced the potential of assisted reproductive technologies in human. Polyspermic fertilization has been one of major problems in pig reproduction, but the ICSI helped to solve the problem, and used widely to generate transgenic piglets. Although the ICSI technique is considered to be a very useful tool in assisted reproductive technologies, including generation of transgenic animals, there are some disadvantages using the technique. In this review, we describe the ICSI technique and its application in animal production and human infertility, and discuss advantage and disadvantage of the technique in mammals.

• 한국가축번식학회지
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• 제27권1호
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• pp.77-85
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• 2003

본 연구는 xanthine(X)-xanthine oxidase(XO) system하에서 돼지 난자의 체외성숙과 체외수정에 대한 catalase의 영향을 검토하였다. 그 결과 돼지 난포난자가 X 또는 XO하에서 배양되었을 때, 난포난자의 성숙율은 다른 배양시간에도 불구하고 catalase 첨가 유무에 따른 유의적인 차이를 나타내지 않았다. 그렇지만, X-XO-catalase system하에서 배양한 경우 유의적으로 높은 성숙율을 얻었다(P<0.05). 퇴행난자의 비율은 배양기간이 늘어남에 따라 증가되었으며, 배양 120시간에서는 catalase 첨가시보다 무첨가시에 유의적으로 높았다. 다른 한편으로, 단위발생 난자들이 배양 72시간에 높은 비율로 관찰되었지만, 다양한 배양시간에서 catalase 첨가유무에 따른 차이는 발견되지 않았다. 또 다른 실험에서, 동결-응해된 돼지 정자가 체외수정을 위해 X-XO system으로 처리되었다. 난자투명대에 대한 정자침입율은 none (P<0.05), XO, X+XO하에서 체외수정시 catalase 무첨가시보다 첨가시에 높게 나타났다. 다른 한편으로, 돼지정자가 none, X, XO, X+XO로 처리되었을 때, lipid peroxidation은 catalase 첨가시보다 무첨가시에 높은 비율로 나타났으며, 그 결과 정자침입과 lipid peroxidation에서의 변화가 상반되는 양상을 보였다. 그렇지만, 모든 조건하에서 정자의 sulfhydry (-SH) group의 함량은 catalase 첨가시에 높게 측정되었다. 난자의 투명대에 대한 정자의 접착 정도는 salt-stored 돼지 난자에 대한 정자접착을 통해서 평가되었으며, control group의 경우 X, XO, X+XO group에 비해 높은 정자접착율이 관찰되었다. 그렇지만, catalase 첨가유무에 따른 유의적인 차이는 인정되지 않았다. 본 연구의 결과는 X-XO-catalase system에 대한 난포난자와 정자의 노출이 돼지에서의 체외성숙과 체외수정을 촉진시키는 것으로 생각된다.