The perinuclear theca is a unique cytoskeletal element that encapsulates the nucleus of mammalian spermatozoa except for a narrow zone around the insertion of the sperm tail. It is composed of two distinct regions, a subacrosomal layer or perforatorium and, continuing caudally beyond the acrosomic system, the postacrosomal sheath. Gel electrophoresis revealed that the extracts were composed of several polypeptide bands, of which the 15.5, 25, 28, 32, 36, and 60 kDa bands were most prominent in the bull. Antibodies against the 15.5 and 60 polypeptides of the bull reacted monospecifically with their respective bands on immunoblots and immunogold labeled the perforatorium and the entire perinuclear theca, respectively. Antibodies against the 25, 28, 32, and 36 kDa polypeptides of the bull showed distinctive patterns of cross reactivity with other polypeptides on Western blots, but immunogold labeled exclusively the entire perinuclear theca. Similar manipulation of human spermatozoa revealed that this element was composed of three major polypeptides, including the 14, 15, and 67 kDa bands. The anti-15.5 (bull) antibody, in addition to an antibody against the 15 kDa protein of rat spermatozoa (raised in a previous study) each cross-reacted with the 15 and 67 kDa polypeptides on Western blots of the human perinuclear theca. Conversely, the anti-60 (bull) antibody and an anti-60 (rat) antibody each reacted monospecifically with the 67 kDa polypeptide of the human perinuclear theca. As well, the anti-60 (bull) antibody immunogold labeled the entire perinuclear theca of human spermatozoa. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.22767 |
| Date | January 1994 |
| Creators | Maravei, David |
| Contributors | Oco, Richard (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001440731, proquestno: MM05591, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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