# Sperm Ca2+ signaling and energy pathways in basic science and ART

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST · 2021 · $444,007

## Abstract

Project Summary
Infertility and subfertility are critical health problems affecting about 9 % of couples worldwide. Since the first
successful “Test-Tube” baby in 1978, over 5 million babies were born using Assisted Reproductive Technology
(ART). ART includes such techniques as in vitro fertilization (IVF), intrauterine insemination (IUI),
intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and embryo transfer techniques. ART is used in humans, and in
animals of economic relevance. In humans alone, IVF and ICSI are used ~ 800,000 times per year. In all
species, the limiting factor for successful pregnancies to occur is obtaining good quality preimplantation
embryos which have a direct influence in implantation and pregnancy rates. Capacitation involves crosstalk
between metabolic and signaling pathways. In the previous period, we showed that a short incubation with the
Ca2+ ionophore A23187[7] can induce in vitro fertilizing capacity in sperm from sterile knock-out (KO) genetic
models. We hypothesized that, at least, in part, A23187's effects were due to changes in metabolism. When
sperm metabolism was changed using starvation and rescue protocols, we observed that intracellular Ca2+ was
elevated. In addition, we found that, similar to A23187, sperm incubated in the absence of nutrients become
immotile. Once nutrients are added back to the incubation media, sperm motility is rescued and those sperm
depict higher percentage of hyperactivation and enhanced in vitro fertilization (IVF) rates. Unexpectedly, eggs
fertilized with sperm incubated in metabolic enhanced conditions were more efficient in producing blastocysts
and those blastocysts generated more implantation sites and produced more pups when transferred to
pseudo-pregnant females. This proposal has basic and applied goals. The basic science objective is to
understand the molecular basis of these methods with particular emphasis on the crosstalk between calcium
and metabolic pathways. At the translational level, our goal is to use novel sperm incubation conditions to
improve ART.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10072889
- **Project number:** 2R01HD038082-17A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST
- **Principal Investigator:** Pablo E. Visconti
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $444,007
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2021-05-01 → 2026-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10072889

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10072889, Sperm Ca2+ signaling and energy pathways in basic science and ART (2R01HD038082-17A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10072889. Licensed CC0.

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