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Updated: Mar 10, 2026
Cryopreservation of Mouse Embryos by Ethylene Glycol-Based Vitrification
Published on: November 18, 2011
Dehydration Preparation of Mouse Sperm for Vitrification and Rapid Laser Warming
1Fundamental and Applied Cryobiology Group, Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. eparedes@utk.edu.
Background:
Mice are fundamental models of study due to their ease of breeding, manipulation, and the well-studied genome. There has been extensive research focused on the cryopreservation of mouse germaplasm, as a way to help maintain the different transgenic mouse breeds. The first protocols for mouse sperm were developed in the 90's using slow cooling and a mixture of raffinose and glycerol. Since then, the rate of success reported remains highly variable.
Objective:
The Aim of this work is to study factors that are key for developing vitrification protocols for ultra-rapid laser warming of mouse sperm.
Results:
Our results show that due to the exquisite sensitivity of sperm cells to osmotic excursions, our target levels of dehydration (~85% water content) cannot be achieved without causing a significant decrease in sperm motility and membrane fusion.
Conclusion:
It seems likely that mouse sperm vitrification is going to be difficult to develop due to the exquisite sensitivity of mouse sperm cells to handling and dehydration.
