ACROSOME REACTION: DOT ASSAY TO DETECT MALE INFERTILITY

A DOT IMMUNOASSAY FOR THE DETECTION OF ACROSOME REACTION OF HUMAN SPERM WILL BE DEVELOPED FOR USE IN THE DETECTION OF MALE INFERTILITY. SCREENING TESTS FOR THE DETERMINATION OF THE CAUSES OF INFERTILITY AND SCREENING SEMEN SAMPLES FOR SPERM BANKING HAVE BECOME MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES OF FERTILITY CLINICS. HOWEVER, NO SIMPLE METHOD CURRENTLY EXISTS FOR THE DETERMINATION OF THE FUNCTIONAL ABILITY OF SPERM TO UNDERGO ACROSOME REACTION-A KEY STEP REQUIRED FOR PENETRATION OF OVUM BY SPERM. WHEN SPERM UNDERGO ACROSOME REACTION, AN ANTIGENIC DETERMINANT IS SHED THAT BINDS PEANUT AND PISUM SATIVUM AGGLUTININS OR MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES REACTIVE WITH BETA-1,3-GAL-GALNAC. RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THAT THE RELEASE OFMARKERS CAN READILY BE DETECTED BY DOT IMMUNOASSAY USING EITHER LECTINS OR MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY BINDING. IN PHASE I OF THE STUDY, SEMEN SAMPLES WILL BE ANALYZED IN PARALLEL BY DOT IMMUNOASSAY AND FLUORESCENCE MICROSCOPY FOR ACROSOMAL REACTION. IN PHASE II, A DOT IMMUNOASSAY PRODUCT WILL BE DEFINED AND CLINICALLY TESTED TO ESTABLISH EFFICACY AS A SCREENING TEST FOR DETECTION OF SPERM THAT ARE UNABLE TO UNDERGO ACROSOME REACTION.