Increased conception rates in beef cattle inseminated with nanopurified bull semen

Aberrant sperm phenotypes coincide with the expression of unique sperm surface determinants that can be probed by objective, biomarker-based semen analysis and targeted as ligands for semen purification. This study evaluated a nanoparticle-based magnetic purification method that removes defective spermatozoa (∼30% of sample) from bull semen and improves sperm sample viability and fertilizing ability in vitro and in vivo. Two types of nanoparticles were developed: a particle coated with antibody against ubiquitin, which is present on the surface of defective spermatozoa, and a particle coated with the lectin peanut agglutinin, which binds to glycans exposed by acrosomal damage. In a 2 yr artificial insemination field trial with 798 cows, a conception rate of 64.5% ± 3.7% was achieved with a 10 × 10(6) sperm dose of peanut agglutinin-nanopurified spermatozoa, comparable to a control nonpurified full dose of 20 × 10(6) spermatozoa per dose (63.3% ± 3.2%) and significantly higher than a 10 × 10(6) sperm dose of nonpurified control semen (53.7% ± 3.2%; P < 0.05). A total of 466 healthy calves were delivered, and no negative side effects were observed in the inseminated animals or offspring. Because the method is inexpensive and can be fully integrated in current protocols for semen cryopreservation, it is feasible for use in the artificial insemination industry to improve fertility with reduced sperm dosage inseminations. Spermatology will benefit from nanopurification methodology by gaining new tools for the identification of candidate biomarkers of sperm quality such as binder of sperm protein 5 (BSP5), described in the present study.