Interaction of immunoglobulin fragments with the mammalian sperm acrosome

Abstract

A study was made of the interaction of immunoglobulins and immunoglobulin fragments from sera of rabbits and pigs with the acrosomes of ten species of mammalian spermatozoa to investigate previous reports of an interaction between normal serum and the acrosome. It was shown that this could be predominantly attributed to IgC, although there was weak staining due to IgM. Further, it was shown that IgG interacted through the Fc fragment, the Fab fragment causing only weak staining of homologous spermatozoa.