The Cause of Infertility of Male c-ros Tyrosine Kinase Receptor Knockout Mice

• Published in: Biology of reproduction Vol. 63; no. 2; pp. 612 - 618
• Main Authors: YEUNG, C.-H, WAGENFELD, A, NIESCHLAG, E, COOPER, T. G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Madison, WI Society for the Study of Reproduction 01-08-2000
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Birth control; Copulation; Fallopian Tubes - cytology; Female; Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics; Infertility, Male - genetics; Infertility, Male - pathology; Infertility, Male - physiopathology; Male; Medical sciences; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Knockout; Osmotic Pressure; Proto-Oncogene Proteins - deficiency; Proto-Oncogene Proteins - genetics; Proto-Oncogene Proteins - physiology; Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases - deficiency; Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases - genetics; Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases - physiology; Sperm Count; Sperm Motility; Sperm Tail - pathology; Sperm Tail - physiology; Spermatozoa - abnormalities; Spermatozoa - physiology; Sterility. Assisted procreation; Time Factors; Uterus - cytology; Spermatozoa; Enzyme; Transferases; Biological transport; Rodentia; Transgenic animal; Cell cell interaction; Male; Germinal cell; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Mouse; Female genital duct; Aminoacid; Female genital system; Male sterility; Oviduct; Protein-tyrosine kinase
• ISSN: 0006-3363; 1529-7268
• DOI: 10.1095/biolreprod63.2.612

Male homozygous transgenic c- ros knockout mice are sterile by natural mating, lack a part of their epididymis, and the epididymal sperm exhibit tail angulation
in vivo and in vitro. To ascertain if this abnormal tail form caused the infertility, the number and nature of sperm in the
tract of females mated to knockout and wild-type mice were determined. Percentage motility and numbers of sperm in the uterus
1 h after mating were similar between genotypes. The majority of the uterine sperm from the wild-type males had straight flagella,
whereas 46–86% of knockout sperm were bent at the cytoplasmic droplet even when motile. Motile knockout sperm showed a 54
and 37% reduction in the straightline and curvilinear velocities compared with straight wild-type sperm. Sequential flushings
of the oviduct 4 h after mating with the wild-type males contained sperm: 591 ± 119 free, 371 ± 70 loosely, and 122 ± 47 tightly
bound to the epithelium, but no knockout sperm were recovered from the oviduct or observed within the uterotubal junction
in tissue sections. The infertility of c- ros knockout male mice can be explained by the sperm's inability to enter the oviduct, as a result of their bent tails forming
the entangled sperm mass and their compromised flagellar vigor within the uterus.