Original Article

Uneven distribution of desmosterol and docosahexaenoic acid in the heads and tails of monkey sperm¹

Correspondence to: William E. Connor.

Previously we demonstrated high concentrations of desmosterol and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6 n–3) in monkey testes and sperm. Desmosterol, a cholesterol precursor, is not present elsewhere in the body. High concentrations of DHA are found elsewhere only in the retina and brain. To examine the distribution of these compounds in the heads and tails of sperm, we separated them and determined their sterol, fatty acid, and phospholipid molecular species composition. Desmosterol predominated in tails (134.4 vs. 1.7 µg/10⁹ cells in heads). The cholesterol content was also greater in the tails (66.2 vs. 30.3 µg/10⁹ cells in heads).

Sperm tails had more polyunsaturated fatty acids than the heads (34.1 vs. 12.1% of total fatty acids) which resulted mainly from the higher contents of DHA (19.6 vs. 1.1%) and arachidonic acid (20:4 n–6) (6.4 vs. 1.6%) in the tails. These differences in fatty acid composition occurred mainly in phospholipids: phosphatidyl choline and phosphatidyl ethanolamine for n–3 fatty acids and phosphatidyl- serine and cardiolipin for n–6 fatty acids. Fifteen phospholipid molecular species were identified. Sperm tails had more molecular species containing unsaturated fatty acids than the heads.

Our results reveal the large differences in membrane lipid composition between the heads and tails of sperm. Most (99%) of the desmosterol and DHA in sperm is located in the tail. These differences may be responsible for the different functions of these two components of sperm. The large number of double bonds in DHA, six, and in desmosterol, two, may contribute to the membrane fluidity necessary for the motility of the sperm tails. —Connor, W. E., D. S. Lin, D. P. Wolf, and M. Alexander. Uneven distribution of desmosterol and docosahexaenoic acid in the heads and tails of monkey sperm. J. Lipid Res. 1998. 39: 1404–1411.

Supplementary key words: sterols, fatty acids, phospholipid, molecular species, motility, membrane fluidity, unsaturation, polyunsaturation

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