ZnO NPs protect boar sperm in liquid storage through increasing the phosphorylation of PKAs

  • Anim Reprod. 2025 Apr 18;22(2):e20240025. doi: 10.1590/1984-3143-AR2024-0025.
Yuanyou Li  1  2 ,  Meiling He  1 ,  Haohan Ran  1 ,  Jie Wu  1 ,  Jing Lv  1 ,  Guangyu Liu  1 ,  Yifan Wang  1 ,  Zhongliang Jiang  1
Affiliations
  • 1. Laboratory of Gamete Biology, College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China.
  • 2. Key laboratory of Bio-resources and Eco-environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
PMID: 40276358 DOI: 10.1590/1984-3143-AR2024-0025
Abstract

It remains a problem to efficiently improve the boar sperm quality of liquid storage due to Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) accumulation. To reduce the effects of ROS on boar sperm, in this study, 1 μg/mL zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) was added into the extender of boar semen during liquid storage at 4°C and 17°C for 7 days. The finding revealed that sperm motility, viability, plasma membrane integrity (PMI) and acrosome integrity significantly increased when compared with the control group (P ˂ 0.05) Additionally, ZnO NPs significantly increased the levels of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and antioxidation abilities (P ˂ 0.05) in boar sperm. Moreover, ZnO NPs could protect boar sperm from oxidative stress (OS) by inhibiting ROS-induced decrease of phosphorylation of PKA substrates (P-PKAs). Together, the current results suggest that ZnO NPs could be used as a novel antioxidant agent for semen preservation, which is helpful in improving the application of assisted reproductive technology in domestic Animals.

Keywords
ROS; ZnO NPs; boar sperm; liquid storage; protein phosphorylation.
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