Chemical Synthesis of a Decapeptide Eliciting Characteristics of a Human Spermatozoal Antigen

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Abstract
Antigenic spermatozoal polypeptides were purified by immunoaffinity chromatography, using immobilized IgG from a sterile woman. One of these peptides showed Asp as N-terminal amino acid and had a sequence of Asp-Pro-Trp-Trp-Cys-Phe-Asp-Lys-Phe-Glu. Following synthesis, the synthetic peptide was tested in an immunoinhibition test for its ability to react with anti-spermatozoal antibodies. In a solid-phase immunoassay significant inhibition of a rabbit anti-human spermatozoal antiserum was evident (Student t test P < 0.05). The peptide also reacted with the naturally occurring agglutinating anti-spermatozoal antibodies in sera of sterile patients in 7 of 9 cases (P < 0.05). These results could open the way for the development of synthetic spermatozoal antigen preparations for an immunological regulation of fertility.

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