2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Development of a highly accurate prediction and control technique for sperm population swimming by hydrodynamics
| Project/Area Number |
18K18354
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Review Section |
Basic Section 90110:Biomedical engineering-related
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| Research Institution | Tohoku University |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
2018-04-01 – 2022-03-31
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| Keywords | 精子遊泳 / 細胞間流体相互作用 / 流体構造連成 |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Sperm motility is governed by the mechanical environment, such as the flow and viscosity around the cell, and this study aims to clarify how these physical factors affect sperm motility. In particular, (1) the analysis of sperm motility in viscoelastic fluids shows that the swimming efficiency is maintained independent of the Deborah number, and that the waveform changes observed experimentally lead to higher efficiency. (2) Analysis of two-body interactions: fluid interference between sperm causes coordinated movement and increases swimming speed by as much as 10% compared with that of single sperm. (3) The unidirectional flow is induced by the many-body interference caused by fluid motion. These results have been published in nine journal papers.
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| Free Research Field |
数値流体力学
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| Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
本研究では精子集団運動のメカニズムを流体力学，固体力学の連立によって解き明かすことを目的とする．本研究で得られた，波形変化による高効率化，協調遊泳による高速化，指向性の高まりは，すべて長距離遊泳や集団として卵子へと向かうのに有利に働くものであり，精子数の減少は単に受精確率を下げるだけでなく，細胞ダイナミクスをも変化させることを示すものである．これらの結果は，精子運動能や受精能を統合評価する新たな指標の創成につながるものと期待される．
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