Lead Research Associate Yelena Zakirova studying influence of microvesicles on insemination material

She is one of the winners of Russian Science Foundation’s grant competition for 2023.

The project is titled ‘Influence of artificial microvesicles derived from mesenchymal stem cells on the quality of sperm after cryogenic conservation’.

Zakirova opines that artificial insemination and cryogenic conservation are among the greatest achievements in selection. It’s especially pertinent now when the global human population grows and needs more productive agricultural animals.

“An increase in fecundity for such animals, including cattle, is important for food production for a growing population. Sperm freezing is considered indispensable to preserve endangered species or spread the most productive genetic material,” explains the grantee.

An important issue is to conserve reproductive cells in animals whose sperm reacts negatively to freezing. “For instance, it can help improve the effectiveness of artificial insemination for domestic and wild felines, especially snow leopards who demonstrate weak reproduction even in their natural habitat and even more so in captivity,” says Zakirova.

After freezing and unfreezing, many spermatozoa show signs of damage and loss of fertility. The issue of their restoring is important for insemination technology.

It is known that stem cells derived from the bone marrow secrete paracrine factors which enhance cellular defense and trigger anti-apoptotic and antioxidant mechanisms. And microvesicles, which are derivatives of stem cells, have effects similar to those of parent cells.

“In vitro experiments are planned to be carried out using rat stem cells and spermatozoa, and this is due to the fact that farm animals are not laboratory animals, primary data on the effect of microvesicles on semen cryopreservation will be obtained using a classic laboratory animal – a rat. Now we are isolating, cultivating and characterizing rat mesenchymal stem cells, from which we will then obtain artificial microvesicles and study their effect on rat spermatozoa,” concludes the interviewee.