Flow-Free Microfluidic Device for Quantifying Chemotaxis in Spermatozoa

Johanna T.W. Berendsen*, Stella A. Kruit, Nihan Atak, Ellen Willink, Loes Segerink

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

36 Citations (Scopus)
114 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Current male fertility diagnosis tests focus on assessing the quality of semen samples by studying the concentration, total volume, and motility of spermatozoa. However, other characteristics such as the chemotactic ability of a spermatozoon might influence the chance of fertilization. Here we describe a simple, easy to fabricate and handle, flow-free microfluidic chip to test the chemotactic response of spermatozoa made out of a hybrid hydrogel (8% gelatin/1% agarose). A chemotaxis experiment with 1 mu M progesterone was performed that significantly demonstrated that boar spermatozoa are attracted by a progesterone gradient.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3302
Number of pages3306
JournalAnalytical chemistry
Volume92
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 18 Feb 2020

Keywords

  • UT-Hybrid-D
  • Animal derived food
  • Fluid dynamics
  • Diffusion
  • Amorphous materials
  • Hydrogels

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Flow-Free Microfluidic Device for Quantifying Chemotaxis in Spermatozoa'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this