Maturation antigen of the mouse sperm flagellum. I. Analysis of its secretion, association with sperm, and function.

We report here recent findings on the sperm maturation antigen SMA4, which is secreted by holocrine cells of the distal caput epididymis and binds to the flagellar surface of mouse sperm during epididymal transit. Washed sperm from the caput and corpus epididymides of mice were examined by immunofluorescence and SDS-PAGE using wheat germ agglutinin, which binds specifically to SMA4 as a primary probe. Results indicate that sperm first exhibit WGA reactivity on their flagellae in the region of the distal caput, and that the appearance of WGA receptors is due to the binding of a 54-Kd glycoprotein (SMA4) to the cell surface.

Murine autoimmune oophoritis, epididymoorchitis, and gastritis induced by day 3 thymectomy. Autoantibodies.

In adult mice thymectomized at age 3 days (D3TX), increased incidences and/or levels of organ-specific antibodies to oocytes and/or zona pellucida, to testicular cell-sperm-differentiation antigens (TSDA), and to gastric parietal cells were detected, and these correlated significantly with oophoritis, orchitis (not epididymovasitis), and gastritis, respectively. The autoantibodies occurred in mice with the corresponding endogenous antigens. Thus, anti-oocyte/zona antibodies were detected in female, anti-TSDA antibodies in male, and anti-parietal cell antibodies in both sexes.

Maturation antigen of the mouse sperm flagellum: II. Origin from holocrine cells of the distal caput epididymis.

During epididymal transit, the mouse sperm flagellum acquires a surface glycoprotein (SMA4) from epididymal fluid that functions as a sperm antiagglutinin. To determine the origin of this molecule, testes and epididymides of male mice were sectioned for light microscopy and stained with wheat germ agglutinin (WGA)-peroxidase, a probe that has been used previously to examine the biology of SMA4. WGA reactivity was localized to the cytoplasm in a small population of cells in the distal caput epididymis.

Epididymal secretion of a mouse sperm surface component recognized by a monoclonal antibody.

We have generated a monoclonal antibody directed against an antigenic determinant appearing on the surface of mouse sperm tails during passage through the epididymis (a determinant that we now term sperm maturation antigen number four [SMA 4]). The present study demonstrates that sperm retained in the ductuli efferentes following ligation do not acquire the antigen, suggesting that its appearance is not due to changes intrinsic to the sperm, but that the epididymal environment is required. To examine the role of the epididymis in the appearance of this antigen, sections of unfixed frozen or fixed, paraffin embedded tissue from different regions of the male reproductive tract have been studied by indirect immunofluorescence.

Isolation, in vitro cultivation, and electron microscopy of normal and malignant prostatic epithelial cells from the Copenhagen rat.

Procedures are described for the isolation and cultivation of normal rat prostatic epithelial cells. The techniques, which involve collagenase digestion and Ficoll purification of the epithelial population, are efficient, inexpensive, and produce pure monolayers. Included is a scanning and transmission electron microscopic study comparing cells isolated in vitro to rat prostatic epithelial cells in situ.