Fluorescent analysis of transgenic and non-transgenic rabbit spermatozoa

Abstract

The aim of our study was to compare viability of sperm cells from transgenic (mWAP-hFVIII gene) or non-transgenic (normal) rabbit males using fluorescent analyses (SYBR-14/PI and annexin V/DAPI tests). These results were estimated in relation to conceptional rates of females following insemination with respective sperm samples. In both, transgenic and non-transgenic groups, the highest proportion of annexin V positivity was recorded in head-tail joint (84.66 vs. 68.84%) of spermatozoa. The percentage of the sperm stained with SYBR-14/PI or with annexin V/DAPI was correlated with liveborn rate in transgenic (R2 =0.6118 and R2 =0.2187, resp.) or non-transgenic (R2 =0.671 and R2 =0.3579, resp.) rabbits. These data indicate that the viability of rabbit transgenic and non-transgenic spermatozoa could be reliably quantified using viability (SYBR-14/PI) and apoptosis (annexin V/DAPI) tests.