IMMUNOFLUORESCENCE LOCALIZATION OF SP-10 PROTEIN ON MONKEY SPERMATOZOA DURING MATURATION

SP 10 is a testis-specific acrosomal protein, Spermatozoa collected fr om the different regions of the epididymis and the ejaculate were anal ysed by immunofluorescence using MHS 10, the antibody to SP 10. In the rhesus monkey, majority of the spermatozoa from the initial segment, caput, corpus and cauda epididymides and the ejaculate showed immunolo calization of SP 10 only in the acrosome, During the epididymal transi t of spermatozoa, the localization of SP 10 did not show any change, T he presence of this antigen, in the acrosome of spermatozoa from both the rhesus monkey and the human shows that it is a conserved antigen a nd indicates that rhesus monkey can be used for the preclinical evalua tion of SP 10-based vaccine.