We report the development of a hydrogel-based approach to select bull spermatozoa, a crucial step for successful assisted reproductive techniques (ARTs). Hyaluronic acid (HA) semi-interpenetrated N-isopropylacrylamide (PNIPAM) co-20% N-Tris (hydroxymethyl) methyl acrylamide (HMA) hydrogels were synthetized on glass surfaces and cultured in presence of frozen-thawed bull spermatozoa. A fraction of motile bull spermatozoa population strongly attached to hydrogels and was partially released by treatment with hyaluronidase. Fifty-nine (59 ± 7.24) per cent of sperm cells attached to PNIPAM-HMA-HA hydrogels and 31.16 ± 4.81% of them were released upon treatment with medium containing hyaluronidase. This attached-released sperm fraction has acceptable characteristics of progressive motility (50.0 ± 5.0%), vigour (4), high viability (58.7 ± 11.7%) and low percentage of acrosome reacted spermatozoa (23.36 ± 4.1%). Our findings indicate that PNIPAM-HMA-HA hydrogels are non-toxic and allow the selection of high-quality sperm cells for ART.

中文翻译：

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通过附着在透明质酸半互穿水凝胶上的公牛精子选择

我们报告了一种基于水凝胶的方法来选择公牛精子，这是成功的辅助生殖技术 (ART) 的关键步骤。在玻璃表面上合成透明质酸 (HA) 半互穿 N-异丙基丙烯酰胺 (PNIPAM) co-20% N-Tris (羟甲基) 甲基丙烯酰胺 (HMA) 水凝胶，并在冻融的公牛精子存在下培养。一小部分活动的公牛精子群强烈附着在水凝胶上，并通过透明质酸酶处理部分释放。59 (59 ± 7.24)% 的精子细胞附着在 PNIPAM-HMA-HA 水凝胶上，其中 31.16 ± 4.81% 在用含有透明质酸酶的培养基处理后释放。这种附着释放的精子部分具有可接受的渐进运动性 (50.0 ± 5.0%)、活力 (4)、高活力 (58.7 ± 11. 7%) 和低百分比的顶体反应精子 (23.36 ± 4.1%)。我们的研究结果表明，PNIPAM-HMA-HA 水凝胶是无毒的，可以为 ART 选择高质量的精子细胞。