Polyclonal antibodies to a 32-KDA deglycosylated polypeptide from porcine zonae pellucidae will prevent human gamete interaction in vitro

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Abstract
The major deglycosylated polypeptides of the porcine zona pellucida (ZP), with molecular masses of 66, 52, 36, and 32 kDa, were purified to homogenity with one-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS/PAGE). Immunofluorescence studies demonstrated that antibodies to the DGZP fraction, and the 66- and 32-kDa polypeptides, bound predominantly to the outer ZP; however, only the first two of these antisera formed an immunoprecipitate around the outer human ZP. In immunoblotting experiments using polyclonal antisera raised to these molecules all four polypeptides exhibited cross-reactivity with each other and their parental glycoprotein families (ZP 1–4). In addition, the antisera were tested in an in vitro human gamete bioassay to determine their contraceptive potential; antibodies to the 32-kDa deglycosylated polypeptide inhibited human gamete interaction to the greatest extent, 5.3% (± 1.2%), relative to a control value of 100%.