Microfluidic thermotaxic selection of highlymotile sperm and in vitro fertilization  

作　　者：Sihan Chen Jiemin Chen Zihan Qin Jibo Wang Yuwen Wang Rong Liu Wen Zhao Ming Zhang Yuanzhen Zhang Mengcheng Luo Pu Chen 

机构地区：[1]Tissue Engineering and Organ Manufacturing(TEOM)Lab,Department of Biomedical Engineering,TaiKang Medical School(School of Basic Medical Sciences),Wuhan University,Wuhan 430071,China [2]Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory of Developmentally Originated Disease,TaiKangMedical School(School of Basic Medical Sciences),Wuhan University,Wuhan 430071,China [3]Reproductive Medicine Center,Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University,Wuhan 430071,China [4]TaiKang Center for Life and Medical Sciences,Wuhan University,Wuhan 430071,China

出　　处：《Bio-Design and Manufacturing》2024年第5期687-700,共14页生物设计与制造（英文）

基　　金：supported by the Key Research and Development Project of Hubei Province,China(No.2021BCA111)。

摘　　要：The selection of the most motile and functionally competent sperm is an essential basis for in vitro fertilization(IVF)and normal embryonic development.Widely adopted clinical approaches for sperm sample processing intensely rely on centrifugation and wash steps that may induce mechanical damage and oxidative stress to sperm.Although a few microfluidic sperm sorting devices may avoid these adverse effects by exploiting intrinsic guidance mechanisms of sperm swimming,none of these approaches have been fully validated by clinical-grade assessment criteria.In this study,a microfluidic sperm sorting device that enables the selection of highly motile and functional sperm via their intrinsic thermotaxis is presented.Bioinspired by the temperature microenvironment in the fallopian tube during natural sperm selection,a microfluidic device with controllable temperature gradients along the sperm separation channel was designed and fabricated.This study investigated the optimal temperature conditions for human sperm selection and fully characterized thermotaxis-selected sperm with 45 human sperm samples.Results indicated that a temperature range of 35–36.5℃along the separation channel significantly improves human sperm motility rate((85.25±6.28)%vs.(60.72±1.37)%;P=0.0484),increases normal sperm morphology rate((16.42±1.43)%vs.(12.55±0.88)%;P<0.0001),and reduces DNA fragmentation((7.44±0.79)%vs.(10.36±0.72)%;P=0.0485)compared to the nonthermotaxis group.Sperm thermotaxis is species-specific,and selected mouse sperm displayed the highest motility in response to a temperature range of 36–37.5℃ along the separation channel.Furthermore,IVF experiments indicated that the selected sperm permitted an increased fertilization rate and improved embryonic development from zygote to blastocyst.This microfluidic thermotaxic selection approach will be translated into clinical practice to improve the IVF success rate for patients with oligozoospermia and asthenozoospermia.

关 键 词：Microfluidic device THERMOTAXIS Sperm sorting Assisted reproductive technology In vitro fertilization 

分 类 号：R714.8[医药卫生—妇产科学]