Optimization of the sperm processing protocol for subsequent molecular cytogenetic studies

One of the causes of spontaneous pregnancy termination, infertility, and birth of children with development delay and malformations are chromosomal abnormalities (CA) as well as spontaneous aneuploidies in gametes of phenotypically normal parents. Often couples with reproductive problems, as well as spouses one of whom is a carrier of CA, turn to the programs of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) for preimplantation evaluation of the zygote chromosomal status. As part of ART programs, parental gametes are examined to assess the level of spontaneous aneuploidy. As a rule, the most accessible material for analysis is the ejaculate. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) is used to examine male gametes obtained from the ejaculate. However, this FISH-analysis has a number of limitations and difficulties because of the peculiarities of the sperm head structure, namely the supercondensed state of chromosome chromatin. In order to optimize the FISH protocol, five different protocols were used for pre-hybridization processing of ejaculate samples obtained from nine phenotypically normal men. A comparative analysis of hybridization efficiency showed that the protocol using tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine hydrochloride (TCEP) as a decondensation agent was the most effective for subsequent molecular cytogenetic studies. The developed hybrid protocol combining proteolytic pretreatment, TCEP and thermal decondensation can be used when other protocols for pre-hybridization treatment of ejaculate preparations are not effective.