Isolation and characterization of membrane vesicles from human and boar spermatozoa: methods using nitrogen cavitation and ionophore induced vesiculation.

A method for isolation of plasma membrane vesicles from human and boar spermatozoa using nitrogen cavitation is described. The purity of the preparations were assessed by electron microscopy, marker enzyme assay and the sedimentation characteristics of fused plasma membrane-acrosomal membrane vesicles in sucrose gradients. PAGE-SDS profiles of plasma membrane polypeptides from boar spermatozoa were significantly different from those of human spermatozoa. Differences in electrophoretic profiles of polypeptides from different regions of the spermatozooon were also observed.