Sperm-associated antigen 8 explained

Sperm-associated antigen 8 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the SPAG8 gene.^{[1] [2] [3]}

The correlation of anti-sperm antibodies with cases of unexplained infertility implicates a role for these antibodies in blocking fertilization. Improved diagnosis and treatment of immunologic infertility, as well as identification of proteins for targeted contraception, are dependent on the identification and characterization of relevant sperm antigens. The protein encoded by this gene is recognized by sperm agglutinating antibodies from an infertile woman. This protein is localized in germ cells of the testis at all stages of spermatogenesis and is localized to the acrosomal region of mature spermatozoa. Alternatively spliced variants that encode different protein isoforms have been described but the full-length sequences of only two have been determined.

Further reading

• Diekman AB, Herr JC . Sperm antigens and their use in the development of an immunocontraceptive. . Am. J. Reprod. Immunol. . 37 . 1 . 111–7 . 1997 . 9138444 . 10.1111/j.1600-0897.1997.tb00199.x. 39710127 .
• Bonaldo MF, Lennon G, Soares MB . Normalization and subtraction: two approaches to facilitate gene discovery. . Genome Res. . 6 . 9 . 791–806 . 1997 . 8889548 . 10.1101/gr.6.9.791 . free .
• Kuang Y, Yan YC, Gao AW, etal . Immune responses in rats following oral immunization with attenuated Salmonella typhimurium expressing human sperm antigen. . Arch. Androl. . 45 . 3 . 169–80 . 2001 . 11111865 . 10.1080/01485010050193940 . 218990195 .
• Zhang XD, Miao SY, Wang LF, etal . Human sperm membrane protein (hSMP-1): a developmental testis-specific component during germ cell differentiation. . Arch. Androl. . 45 . 3 . 239–46 . 2001 . 11111873 . 10.1080/01485010050194020 . 218988933 .
• Strausberg RL, Feingold EA, Grouse LH, etal . Generation and initial analysis of more than 15,000 full-length human and mouse cDNA sequences. . Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. . 99 . 26 . 16899–903 . 2003 . 12477932 . 10.1073/pnas.242603899 . 139241 . 2002PNAS...9916899M . free .
• Tang X, Zhang J, Cai Y, etal . Sperm membrane protein (hSMP-1) and RanBPM complex in the microtubule-organizing centre. . J. Mol. Med. . 82 . 6 . 383–8 . 2004 . 15014887 . 10.1007/s00109-004-0535-2 . 21455758 .
• Humphray SJ, Oliver K, Hunt AR, etal . DNA sequence and analysis of human chromosome 9. . Nature . 429 . 6990 . 369–74 . 2004 . 15164053 . 10.1038/nature02465 . 2734081 . 2004Natur.429..369H .
• Gerhard DS, Wagner L, Feingold EA, etal . The status, quality, and expansion of the NIH full-length cDNA project: the Mammalian Gene Collection (MGC). . Genome Res. . 14 . 10B . 2121–7 . 2004 . 15489334 . 10.1101/gr.2596504 . 528928 .
• Cheng GY, Shi JL, Wang M, etal . Inhibition of mouse acrosome reaction and sperm-zona pellucida binding by anti-human sperm membrane protein 1 antibody. . Asian J. Androl. . 9 . 1 . 23–9 . 2007 . 17187156 . 10.1111/j.1745-7262.2007.00247.x . free .

Notes and References

1. Wang H, Miao S, Chen D, Wang L, Koide SS . Assignment of chromosomal locus and evidence for alternatively spliced mRNAs of a human sperm membrane protein (hSMP-1) . Biochim Biophys Acta . 1447 . 1 . 119–24 . Nov 1999 . 10500252 . 10.1016/s0167-4781(99)00136-0.
2. Liu QY, Wang LF, Miao SY, Catterall JF . Expression and characterization of a novel human sperm membrane protein . Biol Reprod . 54 . 2 . 323–30 . Oct 1996 . 8788182 . 10.1095/biolreprod54.2.323 . free .
3. Web site: Entrez Gene: SPAG8 sperm associated antigen 8.