STRUCTURE & FUNCTION OF THE EPIDIDYMIS AND VAS DEFERENS

本申请的主要目的是阐明 精子在附睾中成熟，这将导致 了解男性的生育能力是如何被调节的。成熟度 附睾中的精子涉及精子、腔内液、 附睾上皮(由血液中的因子调节) 维管系统)。在本申请中要进行的实验中， 将对合成和合成的蛋白质进行研究 由附睾上皮分泌。针对这些病毒产生的抗体 蛋白质与精子表面的分子以及与精子表面的 来自睾丸的分子。这笔赠款的第一个目的是 建议从睾丸网液中分离出纯化合物，从 附睾体和精子表面，这将得到广泛的研究 关于它们的氨基酸序列和碳水化合物组成 它们的低聚糖链。这些实验的基本主题 就是确定是否所有交叉反应的分子 实际上在结构上是一样的，不管它们是不是 与老鼠奶中的α-乳清蛋白相同。在推导出他们的 结构，这些分子将被研究它们的能力 修饰半乳糖基转移酶活性，这是一个主要功能 α-乳清蛋白。该项目的第三个目标是与研究 合成和分泌(并控制这两种功能) 培养的附睾液中的免疫交叉反应分子。 我们已经开发了一种附睾管灌流培养系统， 将使我们能够对附睾体的长期培养进行研究 我们知道附睾上皮和精子是相当正常的。 最后，使用特性良好的针对 附睾α-乳清蛋白复合体的单个多肽， 将进行实验以确定这些分子是否有任何影响 精子的运动能力或受精能力。

The primary goals of this application are to elucidate mechanisms of maturation of spermatozoa in the epididymis which will lead to an understanding of how fertility is regulated in the male. Maturation of sperm in the epididymis involves interactions among sperm, luminal fluid, and the epididymal epithelium (which is regulated by factors from the blood vascular system). In the experiments to be done in this application, investigation will be undertaken on proteins which are synthesized and secreted by the epididymal epithelium. Antibodies raised against these proteins cross-react with molecules on the sperm surface as well as with molecules that are derived from the testis. The first aim of this grant proposal is to isolate pure compounds from rete testis fluid, from the epididymis, and from sperm surfaces, which will then be studied extensively with respect to their amino acid sequences and the carbohydrate components of their oligosaccharide chains. The underlying theme of these experiments is to determine whether all of the molecules that cross-react immunologically are actually structurally the same, and whether they are the same as the Alpha-lactalbumin from rat milk. After deducing their structure, the molecules will be studied with respect to their ability to modify galactosyltransferase activity, which is a major function of Alpha-lactalbumin. The third aim in the project is related to studies on the synthesis and secretion (and control of these two functions) of immunologically cross-reactive molecules from the epididymis in culture. We have developed a perifusion culture system for epididymal tubules that will allow us to do studies on long-term cultures of epididymis, in which we know that epididymal epithelium and sperm are reasonably normal. Finally, using the well characterized monoclonal antibodies raised against the individual polypeptides of the epididymal Alpha-lactalbumin complex, experiments will be done to determine whether the molecules have any effect on sperm motility or fertilizing ability.