Studies on Sperm Chromatin Structure Alterations and Cytogenetic Damage of Mouse Sperm Following In Vitro Incubation. Studies on In Vitro‐Incubated Mouse Sperm

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Mouse epididymal sperm incubated in Tyrode's T6 fertilization media were analyzed over time for chromosome damage by two methods. First, cytogenetic analysis was done on paternal pronuclei metaphase chromosomes. After 6 hours incubation 11% of the cells demonstrated chromosome structural abnormalities. Secondly, sperm nuclei were measured by the sperm chromatin structure assay, which is a measure of the susceptibility of sperm DNA to the nuclei demonstrated an increased susceptibility to DNA denaturation, reaching near 100% by 48 hours. Changes in chromatin structure at the molecular level may lead to chromosome breaks seen in pronuclear chromosomes.