Plos One：冷冻干燥法能够长期保存精子

长期以来，精子的保存一直使用液氮。近年来随着技术的提高，冷冻干燥法已经发展为一个新的精子保存方法。

通过冷冻干燥法来保存精子的优势在于，它能够被保存在4℃，并在室温环境下运输。

虽然已经知道许多动物精子成功的通过冷冻干燥来保存，但是使用这种方法来长期保存精子的可能性还没有被研究。

近日，来自日本京都大学的研究人员做了一个有趣的实验，他们把卵细胞与冷冻干燥的精子受精。结果发现，卵细胞与老鼠冷冻干燥的附睾精子受精，成功获得了后代。

试验发现，经过二酰胺的预处理，睾丸精子对冷冻干燥的耐受性被提高。

更有趣的是，卵细胞与保存在4℃有5年的冷冻干燥的附睾精子受精，仍获得了有正常生育能力的后代。

而且，在鱼精蛋白巯基-二硫键发生"–SS–"交联的精子对冷冻干燥高度耐受，冷冻干燥了5年的精子的活力没有退化。

通过使用了一个新的简单的方法，这篇文章第一次报道并阐明了冷冻干燥精子长期保存的成功。相关论文发表在4月9日的Plos One。

doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0035043
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Successful Long-Term Preservation of Rat Sperm by Freeze-Drying

Takehito Kaneko, Tadao Serikawa.

Freeze-drying sperm has been developed as a new preservation method where liquid nitrogen is no longer necessary.An advantage of freeze-drying sperm is that it can be stored at 4°C and transported at room temperature.Although the successful freeze-drying of sperm has been reported in a number of animals, the possibility of long-term preservation using this method has not yet been studied.Offspring were obtained from oocytes fertilized with rat epididymal sperm freeze-dried using a solution containing 10 mM Tris and 1 mM EDTA adjusted to pH 8.0.Tolerance of testicular sperm to freeze-drying was increased by pre-treatment with diamide.Offspring with normal fertility were obtained from oocytes fertilized with freeze-dried epididymal sperm stored at 4°C for 5 years.Sperm with –SS– cross-linking in the thiol-disulfide of their protamine were highly tolerant to freeze-drying, and the fertility of freeze-dried sperm was maintained for 5 years without deterioration.This is the first report to demonstrate the successful freeze-drying of sperm using a new and simple method for long-term preservation.