O-307 Decrease of human sperm hypercondensed chromatin volume after slow freezing revealed by three-dimensional (3D) nuclear morphometry
Authors: Carcy O , Desset S , Dubos T , Puceat C , Sireta G , Pereira B , Probst A , Tatout C , Brugnon F , Pons-Rejraji H 
Published: July 2024

Study question

Are the 3D morphometry parameters of the human sperm nucleus affected by slow freezing?

Summary answer

The slow freezing-thawing cycle induces significant alterations on hypercondensed nucleus zone by reducing its volume and splits it into several small zones.

What is known already

Sperm cryopreservation is an essential technique for infertility care, but it seems to highly affect the genetic and epigenetic integrity of sperm nuclei with poorly identified mechanisms. Moreover, it is known that sperm nuclear alterations may be involved in pregnancy failures. Therefore, sperm nuclear biomarkers are an essential issue to assess the outcome of ART procedures when frozen sperm is used. Thereby, 3D visualization of chromatin is a good way to understand modifications in the organization and composition of sperm chromatin after a slow freezing procedure.

Study design, size, duration

Ten semen of patients were analyzed (Germetheque biobank) after informed consent. Standard semen parameters, DNA fragmentation, chromatin decondensation, sperm telomere length (STL) and 3D nuclear morphometry were performed before and after slow freezing. Morphometric measurements were performed from a digital representation of the sperm nucleus in 3 dimensions that allow us to measure the volume, flatness and elongation of each sperm nucleus and characterize hypercondensed zones, with live/dead spermatozoa distinction.

Participants/materials, setting, methods

After addition of cryoprotective medium v/v (Cryosperm®), sperm was frozen with a programmable freezer (NanoDigitcool®). Standards sperm parameters were measured in accordance with WHO guidelines 2021, DNA fragmentation by flow cytometry TUNEL assay, chromatin decondensation by epifluorescent microscopy with Chromomycin A3 and STL using qPCR. 3D nuclear representation was performed by a z-axis image acquisition series of DAPI/PI stained slides with optigrid epifluorescent microscopy. Analyses were carried out using the NucleusJ2.0 software with NODeJ plugin.

Main results and the role of chance

Freezing induces an alteration of sperm vitality (p &lt; 0.0001) and progressive and total motility (p &lt; 0.001 and p &lt; 0.0001 respectively) and an increase in the percentage of sperm with DNA fragmentation (18.30% fresh vs 31.6% frozen, p &lt; 0.05). We did not observe a modification of the median volume of the sperm nucleus before and after freezing (37.15 [IC = 36.5;38.14] and 37.10 [33.27;37.78] µm3 respectively), as the same for flatness and elongation (2.48 vs. 2.50 a.u. and 2.04 vs. 2.04 a.u. respectively). Nevertheless, five samples showed significant alterations of nucleus volume (p &lt; 0.0001), due to diminution of flatness and more or less elongated. A significant decrease of the total volume of the hypercondensed chromatin zone was observed after freezing (0.94 [0.84;0.99] before vs. 0.61 [0.53;0.69] µm3 after freezing-thawing, p &lt; 0.0001), with an effect size of -1.48 [-2.10; -0.86]. Decrease of total volume of hypercondensed region was measured homogeny in all the samples tested, particularly on live (1.00 vs. 0.68 µm3 respectively, p &lt; 0.0001) compared with dead spermatozoa (0.72 vs. 0.57 µm3, p &lt; 0.05). We showed also a significant increase of the number of hypercondensed zones in each nucleus (p &lt; 0.001), reflecting a split into several parts of the hypercondensed chromatin.

Limitations, reasons for caution

A 3D-FISH analysis would allow to characterize the hypercondensed chromatin portion, probably as heterochromatin and which we suspect to be the nucleus ring. Moreover, a chromosomes specific marking would allow for the identification of whether whole chromosomes or specific parts of chromosomes (centromeres or telomeres) are affected by this decompaction.

Wider implications of the findings

This study is the first to make exacts measurements of human sperm nucleus because of a non-decondensing method. We demonstrate that slow freezing affects hypercondensed chromatin probably through a decondensation and modification of the nucleus-specific organization. This new assessment will allow a better proficiency of men fertility preservation techniques.

Trial registration number

NCT04715828