Purification of a cell-cell adhesion regulator from porcine seminal vesicle fluid

Seminal plasma derived factors are implicated in mediating inflammation in the female reproductive tract following insemination at mating. During inflammation, leukocytes are activated to express adhesion receptors resulting in adherence to each other and for the ECM as well as for various cell types. The present study describes the purification of a leukocyte cell-cell adhesion regulator derived from seminal vesicle fluid. Seminal vesicle fluid proteins were chromatographed by cation exchange, hydrophobic interaction and reversed phase. Chromatography on Phenyl Superose resolved two distinct forms of cell-cell adhesion regulation, type I and II. Reversed phase chromatography of fractions inducing type I adhesion resulted in the isolation of a 15kDa adhesion inducing protein (pAIF-1). The N-terminal sequence contained a hydrophobic consensus sequence which exists in: two bovine seminal vesicle proteins (BSPA3, PDC 109); IGF-II receptor; fibronectin; and the cation independent mannose-6-phosphate receptor.