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Detection using antisperm monoclonal antibodies of shared epitopes expressed by human spermatozoa and oocytes
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hospital San Rafaele, Milan, Italy.
Objective:
To determine whether human spermatozoa and oocytes share common antigenic epitopes, supporting the hypothesis that their cross-linking by antisperm antibodies present in the clinical sera of infertile couples could promote sperm adhesion to the oolemma.
Design:
Human and hamster eggs were studied for the presence of antigens recognized by a panel of World Health Organization Task Force monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) originally raised against human spermatozoa. A new technique was devised, using frozen sections of paraformaldehyde-fixed individual human and hamster eggs, to screen rapidly antisperm mAbs for egg reactivity. Living zona-free human and hamster eggs then were exposed to Covaspheres (Duke Scientific, Palo Alto, CA) coupled with these mAbs to document the presence of reactive epitopes on the oolemma.
Setting:
Academic research environment.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
Indirect immunofluorescence and Covasphere rosetting.
Result(S):
Eleven of 37 antisperm mAbs tested reacted with fixed hamster eggs and 10 reacted with human eggs. Five of 6 mAbs reactive with both fixed eggs also reacted with the oolemma of living, zona-free eggs.
Conclusion(S):
Common antigenic epitopes, some of which are shared with somatic tissues, exist on the oolemma of human eggs and on the plasma membrane of human spermatozoa.