Regulatory system of temperature-dependent flagellar motility is retained after freezing and thawing of demembranated fowl spermatozoa.

摘要

In the presence of ATP, the motility of demembranated fowl spermatozoa (_80%) frozen at -70degC or -196deg without cryoprotectants and thawed at 30deg was similar to that of spermatozoa not exposed to thawing and freezing (control spermatozoa). Freezing and thawing of intact spermatozoa resulted in complete cessation of motility. The rate of ATP consumption of frozen-thawed demembranated spermatozoa was _200 nmol ATP hydrolysed per 109 spermatozoa per min, similar to that of control spermatozoa. At 40deg,neither frozen-thawed nor control spermatozoa were motile, but motility was restored by decreasing the temperature to 30deg or by the addition of inhibitors of protein phosphatases. It is suggested that the substance(s) involved in the temperature-dependent immobilization of fowl spermatozoa are closely associated with the axoneme, and that physical damage to the demembranated spermatozoa, such as that caused by freezing and thawing, is not enough to remove the substance(s).