Astaxanthin Prevents Human Papillomavirus L1 Protein Binding in Human Sperm Membranes.

Gabriella Donà,Alessandra Andrisani,Decio Armanini,Eugenio Ragazzi,Elena Tibaldi,Chiara Sabbadin,Luciana Bordin,Anna Brunati,Guido Ambrosini

doi:10.3390/md16110427

Gabriella Donà, Alessandra Andrisani + Show 7 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/md16110427

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Journal: Marine Drugs	Publication Date: Nov 2, 2018
Citations: 14	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Padua

Abstract

Astaxanthin (Asta), red pigment of the carotenoid family, is known for its anti-oxidant, anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, and anti-inflammatory properties. In this study, we evaluated the effects of Asta on isolated human sperm in the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) 16 capsid protein, L1. Sperm, purified by gradient separation, were treated with HPV16-L1 in both a dose and time-dependent manner in the absence or presence of 30 min-Asta pre-incubation. Effects of HPV16-L1 alone after Asta pre-incubation were evaluated by rafts (CTB) and Lyn dislocation, Tyr-phosphorylation (Tyr-P) of the head, percentages of acrosome-reacted cells (ARC) and endogenous reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. Sperm membranes were also analyzed for the HPV16-L1 content. Results show that HPV16-L1 drastically reduced membrane rearrangement with percentage of sperm showing head CTB and Lyn displacement decreasing from 72% to 15.8%, and from 63.1% to 13.9%, respectively. Accordingly, both Tyr-P of the head and ARC decreased from 68.4% to 10.2%, and from 65.7% to 14.6%, respectively. Asta pre-incubation prevented this drop and restored values of the percentage of ARC up to 40.8%. No alteration was found in either the ROS generation curve or sperm motility. In conclusion, Asta is able to preserve sperm by reducing the amount of HPV16-L1 bound onto membranes.

Highlights

human papillomavirus (HPV) (Human Papilloma Virus) is responsible for the 5.2% (3% in women and 2% in men) of cancers in the world, with prevalence in cervical, ano-genital, head, and neck cancers [1]
Besides sexual inter-infections between sexual partners leading to the wider virus propagation, it has been recently shown that HPV DNA can cause a detrimental effect on early embryo development and clinical reproductive outcomes, since HPV DNA can be harbored inside the blastocyst stage
The lack of translocation causes the consequent decrease of Lyn gathered on the apical part of the head (Figure 2, Anti-Lyn) (Table 2, 16.3% ± 3.5% compared to 63.1% ± 2.5% for L1 10 μg/mL and C, respectively, p < 0.001), followed by the net reduction of the percentage of cells showing Tyr-P of the head (Figure 2, Anti-P-Tyr) (Table 2). In these conditions only a reduced percentage of cells underwent the acrosome reaction compared to the C sample (19.4% ± 2.8% of acrosome-reacted cells (ARC) in the L1 10 μg/mL sample compared to 65.7% ± 4.2% in C sample, p < 0.001) (Table 2)

Summary

Introduction

HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) is responsible for the 5.2% (3% in women and 2% in men) of cancers in the world, with prevalence in cervical, ano-genital, head, and neck cancers [1]. Besides sexual inter-infections between sexual partners leading to the wider virus propagation, it has been recently shown that HPV DNA can cause a detrimental effect on early embryo development and clinical reproductive outcomes, since HPV DNA can be harbored inside the blastocyst stage. Mar. Drugs 2018, 16, 427 by spermatozoa carrying HPV virions, which represent the viral DNA included inside the L1–L2 capsid [5,6,7]. During the uncoating (process needed for the releasing of the viral genomes into the host nuclei), the protective capsids undergo sequential structural changes

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