Carryover effect of atrazine and its metabolite-from treated bovine spermatozoa to the embryo's transcriptome

Biol Reprod. 2021 Feb 24:ioab027. doi: 10.1093/biolre/ioab027. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTAtrazine (ATZ) is an extensively used herbicide and ubiquitous environmental contaminant. ATZ and its metabolite, diaminochlorotriazine (DACT), cause several cellular and functional alterations in spermatozoa. We aimed to examine the effect of ATZ/DACT on spermatozoon DNA integrity, fertilization competence, embryonic development and transcriptome profile of in-vitro-produced embryos derived from fertilization with pre-exposed sperm. Bovine spermatozoa exposed to ATZ (0.1 or 1 μM) or DACT (1 or 10 μM) during in-vitro capacitation were used for in-vitro fertilization of untreated oocytes. Cleavage and blastocyst-formation rates were evaluated 42 h and 7 days post-fertilization, respectively. The association between DNA fragmentation and apoptosis (annexin V kit) was determined. Fertilization competence of annexin-positive (AV+) and annexin-negative (AV-) spermatozoa was examined. Microarray analysis was performed for 7-day blastocysts. Intracytoplasmic sperm injection was performed with control (AV+, AV-) and DACT (AV+, AV-) spermatozoa. Cleavage rates did not differ between groups and blastocyst formation tended to be higher for AV- vs. AV+ in both control and DACT groups, suggesting that acrosome reaction, rather than DNA fragmentation, underlies the reduced cleavage. Transcriptomic analysis revealed 139 and 230 differentially expressed genes in blastocysts derived from ATZ- and DA...
Source: Biology of Reproduction - Category: Reproduction Medicine Authors: Source Type: research