Preparation of pure fractions of human sperm membranes

A procedure to isolate plasmalemma and outer acrosomal membranes from human spermatozoa provides reasonably purified fractions. Based on the shaking of samples in conditions that are not damaging for spermatozoa, this procedure excludes the use of chemical reagents or other chemicophysical methods harmful to sperm structure. The isolation of fractions is carried out by means of ultracentrifugation. The efficacy of the methodology has been verified by electron microscopy and by enzymological assays. The proposed method is easy to perform and gives good recoveries.