Biomechanics of collective sperm swimming as active matter and its application to analysis of morphological evolution

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K12052
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 90110:Biomedical engineering-related
• Research Institution: Yokohama National University
• Principal Investigator: Hyakutake Toru 横浜国立大学, 大学院工学研究院, 教授 (20335582)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 安井 学 地方独立行政法人神奈川県立産業技術総合研究所, 電子技術部, 主任研究員 (80426361)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 精子遊泳 / 走流性 / 走触性 / マイクロ流体チップ / 集団遊泳 / 粘弾性流体

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In order to elucidate the swimming mechanism of mammalian sperm that fertilize in a special fluid environment such as the oviduct, we investigated sperm swimming characteristics in several environments using soft lithography-based microfluidic devices. (1) investigation of sperm motility characteristics in microfluidic channels with groove, (2) study on microfluidic chips with tapered sperm accumulation structures in the channels, and (3) observation of collective sperm swimming in a shear thinning viscoelastic fluid.

Free Research Field

バイオメカニクス

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

これらの研究で得られた結果は，学術的意義としては，哺乳類精子が体内受精において卵子に到達する過程に関する新しい知見を提供できる．社会的意義としては，精子の体内受精プロセスを理解することで、生殖補助医療や畜産分野において，体外受精への適用を想定した高受胎性を有するマイクロ流体チップを開発する上での重要な知見を提供できる．