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1 September 2001 Differential Subcellular Distribution of Tubulin Epitopes in Boar Spermatozoa: Recognition of Class III β-Tubulin Epitope in Sperm Tail
Jana Pěknicová, Alena Kubátová, Vadym Sulimenko, Eduarda Dráberová, Vladimír Viklický, Pavel Hozák, Pavel Dráber
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Abstract

The exposure of tubulin epitopes was studied in ejaculated boar spermatozoa using a panel of four monoclonal antibodies specific to the N-terminal or C-terminal structural domains of tubulin and three monoclonal antibodies against class III β-tubulin. The specificity of the antibodies was confirmed by immunoblotting. Immunocytochemical staining showed that antibodies discriminated between various parts of a spermatozoon, and that epitopes of class III β-tubulin were present in the flagellum. A tubulin epitope from the C-terminal domain of β-tubulin was detected in the triangular segment of the postacrosomal part of the sperm head. Its distribution changed after an A23187 ionophore-induced acrosome reaction, indicating that tubulin participates in the early stages of fertilization. Three monoclonal antibodies, TU-20, SDL.3D10, and TUJ1 directed against epitopes on the C-terminal end of neuron-specific class III β-tubulin that is widely used as a neuronal marker, stained the flagella. The reactivity of TU-20 was further confirmed by absorbing the antibody with the immunizing peptide and by immunoelectron microscopy. Immunoblotting after two-dimensional electrophoresis revealed that the corresponding epitope was not present on all β-tubulin isoforms. These results suggest that various tubulins are involved in the functional organization of the mammalian sperm flagellum and head.

Jana Pěknicová, Alena Kubátová, Vadym Sulimenko, Eduarda Dráberová, Vladimír Viklický, Pavel Hozák, and Pavel Dráber "Differential Subcellular Distribution of Tubulin Epitopes in Boar Spermatozoa: Recognition of Class III β-Tubulin Epitope in Sperm Tail," Biology of Reproduction 65(3), 672-679, (1 September 2001). https://doi.org/10.1095/biolreprod65.3.672
Received: 28 November 2000; Accepted: 1 April 2001; Published: 1 September 2001
KEYWORDS
acrosome reaction
gamete biology
sperm
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