Purification of human seminal plasma no. 7 antigen by immunoaffinity chromatography on bound monoclonal antibody.

Human seminal plasma (HSP) No. 7 antigen was purified by immunoaffinity chromatography on bound 1C4 monoclonal antibody (Moab) (Shigeta et al., 1980b). The pooled HSP protein was applied to a CNBr-activated Sepharose 4B column of bound 1C4 Moab gamma globulin and the antibody bound fraction (fr) eluted was further purified by rechromatography in the same way. The purified antigen in the antibody bound fr obtained by rechromatography gave a single band on SDS-PAGE in a position corresponding to a molecular weight of 15,000 daltons. This preparation was 196.2 times more effective than the original HSP protein in neutralizing the sperm immobilizing activity of 1C4 Moab. The purified HSP No. 7 antigen contained iron, but was different from lactoferrin and transferrin. It did not show any enzymatic activities, such as those of acid phosphatase, LDH or trypsin inhibitor, and shared antigenicity with human milk protein. It was present in seminal plasma as a molecule with a higher molecular weight but seemed to be cleaved to a monomer of 15,000 daltons during purification procedures. This antigen is present on spermatozoa as sperm-coating antigen and the corresponding antibody can immobilize spermatozoa with complement.