Study of sperm maturation factors on Asian Elephant

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15H05259
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 海外学術
• Research Field: Animal production science
• Research Institution: Tokai University (2018-2019); University of East Asia (2015-2017)
• Principal Investigator: YOKO SATO 東海大学, 生物学部, 教授 (50398963)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 音井 威重 徳島大学, 大学院社会産業理工学研究部(生物資源産業学域), 教授 (30311814) ; 谷口 雅康 山口大学, 共同獣医学部, 准教授 (40625018)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 精子成熟 / 精子形成 / 熱ストレス / ゾウ / 停留精巣

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Elephant low quality of sperm may be caused by maturation process of epididymis, because the elephant sperm might receive the heat stress much longer than other mammals by their location. Here we investigated the expression of heat shock related molecules in elephant epididymis. HSF1 and HSP70 were quite highly expressed in the elephant epididymis compared to the other mammals, suggesting that there are endogenous heat stresses and heat responses in the epididymis. The localization area of these molecules was also different among elephants and the other animals. The heat shock responses, such as elevation of HSF1 and HSP70 were observed using tissue culture under the experimental heat stress, however, the timing of HSP70 response to the heat was delayed compared to the other animals. Because the regionalized epididymal fluid microenvironments are essential to the sperm maturation, the expression of these molecules by different way may affect the maturation process of elephant sperm.

Free Research Field

生殖生物学　発生生物学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究の特色は、これまで人工授精が不可能であったゾウから採取した精液でも人工授精が可能となる手法を提供するための基礎条件を検討するもので、今後、希少動物であるゾウの保護技術を確立する上での活用が期待される。さらに、ゾウ以外のヒトを含む他の哺乳動物においても、成熟精子形成能力が低下した希少品種および造精機能障害等の疾患に応用できる技術に繋がると思われる。