Molecular characterization of epididymal proteins.

By using various methods, ranging from conventional protein separation and purification to monoclonal antibody and cDNA cloning strategies, a considerable body of information has been obtained on mammalian epididymal proteins. Molecular characterization of proteins specifically produced in the human epididymis has been achieved by cDNA cloning, followed by raising antibodies against synthetic peptide epitopes. The predicted proteins have been localized in the human epididymal epithelium, within the lumen of the epididymal duct and vas deferens, and also on the surface of ejaculated spermatozoa. Sperm association has been reported for at least four human epididymal proteins, ARP, HE2, HE4, and HE5/CD52. However, as is largely the case in other species, a link to a specific function for any luminal component of the human epididymis, including the cloned secretory glycoproteins, to either sperm maturation or storage has not yet been demonstrated convincingly. Indirect evidence for a function for epididymal proteins comes from their relatively high frequency and tissue-specific expression as well as from their distinct spatial expression patterns along the human epididymal duct. However, it remains to be established (for example, by using the proteins and their antibodies in functional tests) whether, besides being essential markers of sperm maturation, they are also functionally important.