title: Identification of two maturation-related, wheat-germ-lectin-binding proteins on the surface of mouse sperm.
abstract: Epididymal maturation is essential for mammalian sperm to develop fertility. Wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), a lectin which specifically recognizes N-acetyl-glucosamine and sialic acid, was used to investigate membrane characteristics of epididymal sperm in the mouse. Histochemical and cytochemical localization revealed that WGA-binding sites were increased as sperm became mature. The binding sites were mainly localized in the plasma membrane of the anterior acrosome and tails. On Western blots of NP-40 extracts, two WGA-binding glycoproteins, GP-49 and GP-83, were identified on the sperm recovered from both corpus and cauda epididymidis. GP-83 was removed from the sperm surface by centrifugation and resuspension in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) three times. GP-49 was resistant to centrifuging at 400 g for 5 min up to seven times and the treatment with 1M NaCl in PBS. These observations suggest that GP-49 is very likely an intrinsic membrane protein of the sperm, whereas GP-83 is an extrinsic protein.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Anatomy, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Republic of China.
authors.forename: H W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Chao
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Muller
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004822:Epididymis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D016650:Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D017979:Gold Colloid; D006735:Horseradish Peroxidase / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D011975:Receptors, Mitogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D013079:Sperm Maturation; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D018998:Wheat Germ Agglutinin-Horseradish Peroxidase Conjugate; D014909:Wheat Germ Agglutinins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D006023:Glycoproteins; D017979:Gold Colloid; D011975:Receptors, Mitogen; D018998:Wheat Germ Agglutinin-Horseradish Peroxidase Conjugate; D014909:Wheat Germ Agglutinins; C047939:fluorescein isothiocyanate-wheat germ agglutinin; C027503:wheat germ agglutinin receptor; C051777:wheat germ agglutinin-gold; D006735:Horseradish Peroxidase; D016650:Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate