IMMUNOGLOBULINS FROM HUMAN FOLLICULAR-FLUID INDUCE THE ACROSOME REACTION IN HUMAN SPERM

The ability of human follicular fluid (hFF), retrieved from women undergoing IVF to induce the acrosome reaction (AR) in human sperm has been documented by several laboratories. However, the nature of the active factors in the hFF and the physiological meaning of the AR induction are highly controversial. We performed a three step purification scheme for hFF and all the fractions were screened for the AR-inducing activity. AR activity was associated with a protein fraction of M(r) > 180 kD that on further analysis under PAGE was found to be composed by subunits of apparent M(r) 50,000 and 29,000. The N-terminal sequences of these bands showed a 100% homology with the heavy and light chains of human IgG. A polyclonal antibody raised against the purified protein and anti-human IgG were both able to suppress the acrosome reaction-inducing activity of crude hFF. However, neither normal human serum nor a purified preparation of human IgG were able to mimic the AR-inducing activity of hFF. We concluded that the AR-inducing activity of hFF is, at least in part, due to the presence of antisperm antibodies. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.