Lectin Functionalised Iron Magnetic Nanoparticle‐Based Sperm Selection: A Potential Technique to Improve Bull Sperm Quality In Vitro

ABSTRACT Premature acrosomal exocytosis in cryopreserved semen is one of the reasons attributed to low fertility among livestock. In the present study, we attempted to enhance the cryopreserved semen quality by selective removal of acrosome‐reacted spermatozoa using FITC‐PNA conjugated iron magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). Further, the effect of nano purification on other sperm functional attributes was also assessed. Iron MNPs were prepared using co‐precipitation method and dextran‐coated MNPs were conjugated with FITC‐PNA (0.04 mg/mL). A preliminary experiment was conducted to standardise the dose of FITC‐PNA conjugated iron MNPs (0.02, 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 mg). Among the different doses used, 0.6 mg FITC‐PNA conjugated iron MNPs significantly (p