The use of optical tweezers to study sperm competition and motility in primates
The use of optical tweezers to study sperm competition and motility in primates
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DOI：
10.1098/rsif.2007.1118
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发表时间：
2008-03-06
影响因子：
3.9
通讯作者：
Berns, Michael W.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Nascimento, Jaclyn M.;Shi, Linda Z.;Berns, Michael W.
光学捕获是一种非侵入性的生物物理工具，已被广泛应用于研究细胞的生理和生物力学性质。使用激光镊子结合定制的计算机跟踪算法，可以实时测量单个精子的游泳速度和相对游泳力。这种物理和工程工具的结合已经被用来检验灵长类动物精子竞争的进化效果。结果表明，交配类型与精子活力之间存在相关性：来自一夫多妻制(多配偶)灵长类物种的精子比一夫多妻制(单一伴侣)灵长类物种的精子游得更快，力量更大。此外，每个物种的精子游泳力随游动速度呈线性增加，但这两个参数之间的回归关系因物种而异。这些结果证明了利用这些工具研究快速移动的(µm S(-1))生物细胞的可行性。
Optical trapping is a non-invasive biophysical tool which has been widely applied to study physiological and biomechanical properties of cells. Using laser 'tweezers' in combination with custom-designed computer tracking algorithms, the swimming speeds and the relative swimming forces of individual sperm can be measured in real time. This combination of physical and engineering tools has been used to examine the evolutionary effect of sperm competition in primates. The results demonstrate a correlation between mating type and sperm motility: sperm from polygamous (multi-partner) primate species swim faster and with greater force than sperm from polygynous (single partner) primate species. In addition, sperm swimming force linearly increases with swimming speed for each species, yet the regression relating the two parameters is species specific. These results demonstrate the feasibility of using these tools to study rapidly moving (mu m s(-1)) biological cells.