Prostasome antigens as targets for sperm agglutinating antibodies demonstrated by 1-D gel electrophoresis and immunoblottings.
Many immunoinfertile men have sperm agglutinating antibodies that are directed against prostasome-derived antigens, but these antigens have not been defined so far. We selected serum samples with high ELISA titres against prostasomes from a group of immunoinfertile patients with sperm agglutinating antibodies and used the sera for immunoblottings on 1-D SDS-PAGE of prostasomes and sperm cells. The immunoblottings with individual antiprostasome antisera on 1-D SDS-PAGE of prostasomes, revealed three to 10 bands for each serum. Eighty-five per cent of the serum samples contained bands in the 70-75 kDa region and 80% of the samples contained bands in the 50-55 kDa region. Immunoblottings of extracted sperm cells, revealed one to six bands in the molecular weight range 25-82 kDa and two of the samples recognized two bands with molecular weights (50 and 43 kDa) similar to immunoblottings of prostasomes. The prostasomal antigens recognized by the high titre-antisera of immunoinfertile men were generally different from the sperm antigens recognized by the same sera. This suggests that prostasomes offer a new set of antigens available for research on male immunoinfertility and immunocontraception.
Carlsson
L
L
Department of Medical Cell Biology, Biomedical Center, University of Uppsala, S-751 85 Uppsala, Sweden.
Larsson
A
A
Ronquist
G
G
Nilsson
B O
BO
D000941:Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000276:immunology*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D011467:Prostate / Q000276:immunology*
D000941:Antigens; D000954:Antigens, Surface; D006023:Glycoproteins; C120760:SAGA-1 protein, human