Sperm transport within the female genital tract is a cooperative process between the sperm and seminal fluid and the cycle adaptations of the female reproductive tract that facilitates the migration of the sperm into the ovulated egg cell. Sperm has to penetrate barriers along its way to the egg cell to achieve successful reproduction.
A team of researchers from the Humboldt University Berlin and the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) has developed an agent-based computer model to simulate the journey of the sperm to the egg cell, Phys.org reported. These compute simulations could identify key factors of a successful reproduction, which could be used to address reproduction problems and assist in reproduction techniques.
Sperm Transport in Female Reproductive Tract
At coitus in wildlife species, males transfer millions of sperm into the female reproductive tract, where they will have to pass through several barriers before reaching the ovulated egg cell.
Only a few of the initial sperm cells succeed in passing through these barriers and reach into the fallopian tube, where the ovulated egg cell is waiting to be fertilized. These sperm who managed to pass the barriers will then be conditioned for fertilization.
According to an article in the National Library of Medicine, sperm may be guided to the egg cell by a combination of thermotaxis and chemotaxis to activate motility and assist them to penetrate the mucus in the tubes and the egg cell to finally fuse with the egg cell plasma membrane.
A deeper understanding of sperm transport and selection in the context of species-specific reproductive systems would be of great help to the conservation of threatened wildlife species to recognize reproductive problems and optimize assisted reproduction, like artificial insemination.
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Computer Simulations of Sperm Transport
The study, titled "Sperm migration in the genital tract-In silico experiments identify key factors for reproductive success," published in PLOS Computational Biology, described the Spatio-temporal computer simulation model of the mammalian female reproductive tract they created that shows sperm transport mechanisms.
They first used the data on bovine genital tract geometry and the biophysical properties of the bovine sperm as observed in test tubes. Simulation results were compared to published data derived from cattle to make sure that their model was realistic in depicting salient features of the sperm and female genital tract. The simulation model showed a close match with the timing and number of sperm that reaches the entry of oviducts.
The team found that velocity and directional stability are essential for successful reproduction, Phys.org reported. Also, the ability to swim against the mucus flow of cervical secretions and the sperm's ability to align to epithelial walls of the genital tract have a significant impact on the chances of a successful sperm migration into the oviduct.
Researchers noted that these identified characteristics of sperm should be looked into when attempting to condition sperm in the selection process for artificial insemination. They also said that the key advantage of computer simulations is their flexibility as they can be generalized to other systems and could improve assisted reproduction without conducting human and animal experiments.
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