INHIBITION OF VIRAL REVERSE-TRANSCRIPTASE AND HUMAN SPERM DNA-POLYMERASE BY ANTI-SPERM ANTIBODIES

  • 1 January 1978
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 33  (2) , 244-251
Abstract
The Ig[immunoglobulin]G fraction of serum from a rabbit immunized with detergent-prepared human sperm nuclei inhibited the DNA polymerase activities in human sperm and seminal fluid and the partially purified reverse transcriptase of the baboon endogenous type-C retrovirus (BEV). The analogous enzymes from lysates of oncogenic type-C viruses were unaffected. IgG from the serum of individual partners from infertile marriages similarly inhibited purified BEV reverse transcriptase and human sperm DNA polymerase, but not a DNA polymerase isolated from human prostatic fluid. BEV reverse transcriptase and the human sperm DNA polymerase may be antigenically related. The sperm enzyme appears auto-antigenic and the antibodies formed may be capable of interfering with reproductive success.