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Title: LOCALIZATION OF AQUAPORINS IN THE SPERM STORAGE TUBULES IN THE TURKEY OVIDUCT

Author
item ZANIBONI, L - UNIVERSITY OF MILAN
item Bakst, Murray

Submitted to: Poultry Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/22/2004
Publication Date: 6/1/2004
Citation: Zaniboni, L., Bakst, M.R. 2004. Localization of aquaporins in the sperm storage tubules in the turkey oviduct. Poultry Science. 83:1209-1212.

Interpretive Summary: Depending on the species, female birds are capable of laying a succession of fertile eggs over weeks or months, following a single copulation or insemination. This is possible because hens have in their reproductive tract specialized sites of sperm storage. These are referred to as oviductal sperm storage tubules (SST) and they are located in the lower third of the reproductive tract. How sperm are able to survive for long periods of time in the SST remains unknown. The cells lining the SST appear to secrete a fluid with bathes sperm residing within the SST. We were able to show unique proteins called aquaporins are present in SST cells and these proteins may regulate the production of fluid by the SST. This fluid would not only provide nutrients to resident sperm but the flow would assist in the release of the sperm from the SST under certain conditions. This work will be of interest to other scientist doing work in oviductal sperm storage and germplasm preservation.

Technical Abstract: Oviductal sperm storage tubules (SST), located at the uterovaginal junction, are the primary site of sperm storage in turkeys. Sperm reside within these storage sites and may be released via a dynamic interaction between sperm mobility and a fluid current generated by the SST epithelial cells. In this study, aquaporins 2, 3, and 9 (proteins that form water channels in the plasmalemma of a variety of cells) were immunocytochemically localized within the apical aspect of the epithelial cells that form the SST. These observations support the contention that the SST epithelial cells are capable of water exchange that may interact with resident sperm.