TY - JOUR
T1 - The cooperative impact of flow and viscosity on sperm flagellar energetics in biomimetic environments
AU - Yazdan Parast, Farin
AU - Gaikwad, Avinash S.
AU - Prabhakar, Ranganathan
AU - O'Bryan, Moira K.
AU - Nosrati, Reza
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by Australian Research Council ( ARC ) Discovery Project Grants ( DP190100343 ) to R.P. and R.N., an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council ( NHMRC ) fellowship (Investigator Grant 2017370 ) to R.N., and a Monash Postgraduate Publications Award to F.Y.P.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors
PY - 2023/11/15
Y1 - 2023/11/15
N2 - Complex rheological properties of the female reproductive tract serve as a long-range guidance mechanism for sperm. However, conventional microscopy methods and population-level studies have restricted our understanding of the combined effects of flow and viscosity on sperm flagellar beating behavior at the single-cell level. Here, using microfluidics, we study individual sperm flagellar dynamics within a physiologically relevant range of viscosity and shear rate. Our results indicate that an increase in shear rate from 0 to 6 s−1 at 75 mPa s reduces the flagellar curvature by 20%, while the peak energy occurs at a shear rate of 3 s−1—a favorable shear rate for sperm rheotaxis. Viscosity has a more dominant influence than shear rate on the flagellar waveform, and the synergistic effect of flow and viscosity promotes energy-efficient beating behavior. Our findings provide new insights into the complex interplay between the environment of the female reproductive tract and sperm function in facilitating fertilization.
AB - Complex rheological properties of the female reproductive tract serve as a long-range guidance mechanism for sperm. However, conventional microscopy methods and population-level studies have restricted our understanding of the combined effects of flow and viscosity on sperm flagellar beating behavior at the single-cell level. Here, using microfluidics, we study individual sperm flagellar dynamics within a physiologically relevant range of viscosity and shear rate. Our results indicate that an increase in shear rate from 0 to 6 s−1 at 75 mPa s reduces the flagellar curvature by 20%, while the peak energy occurs at a shear rate of 3 s−1—a favorable shear rate for sperm rheotaxis. Viscosity has a more dominant influence than shear rate on the flagellar waveform, and the synergistic effect of flow and viscosity promotes energy-efficient beating behavior. Our findings provide new insights into the complex interplay between the environment of the female reproductive tract and sperm function in facilitating fertilization.
KW - flagellar energetics
KW - flagellar waveform
KW - reproduction
KW - rheotaxis
KW - sperm motility
KW - viscosity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85176926779&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.xcrp.2023.101646
DO - 10.1016/j.xcrp.2023.101646
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85176926779
SN - 2666-3864
VL - 4
JO - Cell Reports Physical Science
JF - Cell Reports Physical Science
IS - 11
M1 - 101646
ER -