Involvement of Porcine β-Defensin 129 in Sperm Capacitation and Rescue of Poor Sperm in Genital Tract Infection

Fanwen Zeng; Mingming Wang; Ju Li; Chengde Li; Xueqing Pan; Li Meng; Li Li; Hengxi Wei; Shouquan Zhang

doi:10.3390/ijms23169441

International Journal of Molecular Sciences (Aug 2022)

Involvement of Porcine β-Defensin 129 in Sperm Capacitation and Rescue of Poor Sperm in Genital Tract Infection

Fanwen Zeng,
Mingming Wang,
Ju Li,
Chengde Li,
Xueqing Pan,
Li Meng,
Li Li,
Hengxi Wei,
Shouquan Zhang

Affiliations

Fanwen Zeng: National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, College of Animal Science of South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Mingming Wang: National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, College of Animal Science of South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Ju Li: National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, College of Animal Science of South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Chengde Li: National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, College of Animal Science of South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Xueqing Pan: National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, College of Animal Science of South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Li Meng: National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, College of Animal Science of South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Li Li: National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, College of Animal Science of South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Hengxi Wei: National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, College of Animal Science of South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Shouquan Zhang: National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, College of Animal Science of South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23169441
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 23, no. 16
p. 9441

Abstract

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In mammals, β-defensins have been reported to play pivotal roles in sperm protection and fertilization. However, the function and mechanism of porcine β-defensin 129 (pBD129) in the sperm remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that pBD129 is a glycosylated protein and broadly exists in accessory sex glands and coats the sperm surface. We inhibited the pBD129 protein on the sperm surface with an anti-pBD129 antibody and found that sperm motility was not significantly affected; however, sperm acrosome integrity and tyrosine phosphorylation levels increased significantly with time (p 2+ influx, resulting in a significantly reduced in vitro fertilization cleavage rate (p Escherichia coli. The results suggest that pBD129 is not only associated with poor sperm motility after genital tract infection but can also protect the spermatozoa from premature capacitation, which may be beneficial for semen preservation.

Published in International Journal of Molecular Sciences

ISSN: 1661-6596 (Print); 1422-0067 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Science: Biology (General); Science: Chemistry
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijms

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