EFFECTS OF COLD SHOCK AND PHOSPHOLIPASE-A2 ON INTACT BOAR SPERMATOZOA AND SPERM HEAD PLASMA-MEMBRANES

Head plasma membranes (HPM) isolated from cryopreserved boar spermatozoa show an excessive fluidization (Buhr et al., Gamete Res 23:441–449, 1989), which might be involved in the loss of fertility. The current study assessed the ability of cold shock (5°C) and phospholipase A2 (PA2) to duplicate these effects on membrane structure and to affect 45Ca2+ uptake and gross morphological characteristics of whole, fresh boar sperm. The HPM from cold‐shocked sperm showed a significantly greater rate of fluidization over time than did HPM from control sperm. Addition of PA2 (bee or snake venom, 0.1 or 10.0 ng/ml) to HPM from control sperm caused fluidization similar to cold shocking, but to a lesser degree (P < 0.05). Cold‐shocked intact sperm exhibited severe acrosomal disruption, loss of motility, and increased 45Ca2+ uptake relative to control sperm. Addition of PA2 (bee or snake venom, 0.1, 1.0., 10.0, and 1,000 ng/ml) to control sperm had not effect on gross morphology or motility while maintaining or increasing sperm extrusion of 45Ca2+. Therefore, although PA2 can, to some extent, duplicate the effects of cold shock on HPM molecular organization, its lipid hydrolytic action is insufficient to cause all the gross disruptions of severe thermal shock. Both PA2 and cold shock disrupted HPM structure, but only cold shock increased 45Ca2+ uptake, suggesting that cold shock may be increasing 45Ca2+ uptake in areas other than the head. Cold shock disrupts sperm on three levels; membrane molecular organization, intracellular Ca2+ regulation, and gross morphology/motility. Copyright © 1990 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.