Differences in concanavalin A-FITC binding to rat spermatozoa during epididymal maturation and capacitation.
Rat spermatozoa from the caput epididymis and cauda epididymis, but not from the testis, demonstrated a crescent of greenish fluorescence on the convex surface of the sperm head, as observed by fluorescence microscopy after staining with concanavalin A-fluorescein isothiocyanate. The percentage of spermatozoa displaying this fluorescent zone decreased during incubation under capacitating conditions, both in vivo and in vitro, suggesting that a glycoprotein zone that is capable of binding concanavalin A was removed or altered during the capacitation period.
D000818:Animals; D004822:Epididymis / Q000502:physiology*; D005452:Fluoresceins; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011952:Receptors, Concanavalin A; D013075:Sperm Capacitation; D013077:Sperm Head / Q000502:physiology; D013079:Sperm Maturation; D013861:Thiocyanates
D005452:Fluoresceins; D011952:Receptors, Concanavalin A; D013861:Thiocyanates