Lactate dehydrogenase C4 (LDHC4) is a key enzyme for sperm metabolism. It is distributed specifically in testis and is highly immunogenic. In this study, two DNA vaccines pVAX1-hLDHC and pVAX1-mLDHC were constructed b...Lactate dehydrogenase C4 (LDHC4) is a key enzyme for sperm metabolism. It is distributed specifically in testis and is highly immunogenic. In this study, two DNA vaccines pVAX1-hLDHC and pVAX1-mLDHC were constructed by inserting coding sequences of human and mice LDHC4 into the eukaryotic ex-pression vector pVAX1. The production of LDHC4 specific antibodies was induced in the sera of vac-cinated mice and the reproductive tract secretions of vaccinated female mice through immunization by mucosal surface instillation. Furthermore, the antibody titer increased with the times of immunization. In the mating experiment, the number of newborns of the vaccinated mice reduced significantly and some immunized female mice even lost the ability to bear any offsprings, suggesting that the difference between the immunized and control mice was statistically significant. Sperm agglutination analysis indicated that both the antisera from immunized mice and the reproductive tract secretions of vacci-nated female mice could agglutinate normal sperms. Results of immunohistochemistry showed that the antibodies present in the sera of immunized mice and the reproductive tract secretions of vaccinated female mice could specifically react with LDHC4 antigen, which mainly locates in the cytoplasm, acrosome membrane externa and acrosome capsule of the sperm. Taken together, our results indicated that the constructed contraceptive DNA vaccines did yield immunocontraceptive effects on mice and this would enable clinical trials in near future.展开更多
Objective To analyze the expression of SPACA4 in human and mice. Methods Testes cRNA samples from Balb/c mice of different postnatal days were performed with mouse affymetrix chip to screen the expression of SPACA4 in...Objective To analyze the expression of SPACA4 in human and mice. Methods Testes cRNA samples from Balb/c mice of different postnatal days were performed with mouse affymetrix chip to screen the expression of SPACA4 in mice. Sub-quantitative RT-PCR and bioinformatic tools were used here to describe the expression profile of SPACA4 in mice and human. Results The results of gene chip analysis indicated that the expression of mSPACA4 began after d 35 of postnatal testis in mice. Sub-quantitative RT-PCR assay showed that SPACA4 gene expressed exclusively in mouse and human testis, and mouse mSPACA4 gene expressed after d 35 of postnatal testis that was consistency with the results of gene chip analysis. By bioinformatics analysis, mSPACA4 is located in cell membrane （34.8%） or plasma membrane （34.8%）, the signal peptide cleavage site between position 19 and 20 amino acids, transmembrane region between 2-20 and 101-126 amino acids, respectively, on mSPACA4 protein. Conclusion mSPACA4 and hSPACA4 were testis-specific genes, and the expression of mSPACA4 begins after d 35 of postnatal testis in mice. SPACA4 is a candidate for targeting in a sperm-based contraceptive vaccine.展开更多
基金Grants from the Key Research Projects of Science and Technology of Fujian Province,China (Grant No. 2002Y032)Chinese PLA Foundation of Medical Sciences during the Tenth Five–Year Period (Grant No. 01MA032)
文摘Lactate dehydrogenase C4 (LDHC4) is a key enzyme for sperm metabolism. It is distributed specifically in testis and is highly immunogenic. In this study, two DNA vaccines pVAX1-hLDHC and pVAX1-mLDHC were constructed by inserting coding sequences of human and mice LDHC4 into the eukaryotic ex-pression vector pVAX1. The production of LDHC4 specific antibodies was induced in the sera of vac-cinated mice and the reproductive tract secretions of vaccinated female mice through immunization by mucosal surface instillation. Furthermore, the antibody titer increased with the times of immunization. In the mating experiment, the number of newborns of the vaccinated mice reduced significantly and some immunized female mice even lost the ability to bear any offsprings, suggesting that the difference between the immunized and control mice was statistically significant. Sperm agglutination analysis indicated that both the antisera from immunized mice and the reproductive tract secretions of vacci-nated female mice could agglutinate normal sperms. Results of immunohistochemistry showed that the antibodies present in the sera of immunized mice and the reproductive tract secretions of vaccinated female mice could specifically react with LDHC4 antigen, which mainly locates in the cytoplasm, acrosome membrane externa and acrosome capsule of the sperm. Taken together, our results indicated that the constructed contraceptive DNA vaccines did yield immunocontraceptive effects on mice and this would enable clinical trials in near future.
基金This study was supported by grants from National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.30700824, No.30770810)973 Program(2008CB517412)Guangdong Natural Science Foundation (No.7008952)
文摘Objective To analyze the expression of SPACA4 in human and mice. Methods Testes cRNA samples from Balb/c mice of different postnatal days were performed with mouse affymetrix chip to screen the expression of SPACA4 in mice. Sub-quantitative RT-PCR and bioinformatic tools were used here to describe the expression profile of SPACA4 in mice and human. Results The results of gene chip analysis indicated that the expression of mSPACA4 began after d 35 of postnatal testis in mice. Sub-quantitative RT-PCR assay showed that SPACA4 gene expressed exclusively in mouse and human testis, and mouse mSPACA4 gene expressed after d 35 of postnatal testis that was consistency with the results of gene chip analysis. By bioinformatics analysis, mSPACA4 is located in cell membrane （34.8%） or plasma membrane （34.8%）, the signal peptide cleavage site between position 19 and 20 amino acids, transmembrane region between 2-20 and 101-126 amino acids, respectively, on mSPACA4 protein. Conclusion mSPACA4 and hSPACA4 were testis-specific genes, and the expression of mSPACA4 begins after d 35 of postnatal testis in mice. SPACA4 is a candidate for targeting in a sperm-based contraceptive vaccine.
