Low sperm motility is one of the main causes of male
infertility. Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR, an
anion channel protein) is related to the progressive motility of sperm. CFTR
disruptor CFTRinh-172 or forskolin (FSK) in this study were used to treat human
sperm separately, and the rates of sperm autophagy and progressive motility,
mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and ATP concentration, and the
expression levels of related factors were detected to explore their
relationship. It was showed that sperms treated with CFTRinh-172 or FSK reduced
the levels of cAMP, CFTR and PKA, but increased sperm autophagy rate,
expression levels of AMPK and LC3B. However, reactive oxygen species content
had no significant difference. It was indicated that low level of CFTR
performed with cAMP and its downstream effectors such as PKA and AMPK to
regulate mitochondrial structure and function, leading to increased autophagy
rate and reduced vitality of sperm.
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