Trophoblast/leukocyte-common antigen is expressed by human testicular germ cells and appears on the surface of acrosome-reacted sperm

The murine monoclonal antibody H316 reacts with a cell-surface antigen of human trophoblast, leukocytes, certain epithelia, and several malignant cell types. We have found that the H316 antibody also recognizes an antigen synthesized by pre- and post-meiotic human testicular germ cells and is expressed in the acrosomal region of methanol-fixed testicular, epididymal, and ejaculated sperm. The antigen is poorly expressed on the surface of fresh ejaculated motile sperm, but is detectable on most viable sperm after a 6-h incubation in medium containing human serum albumin (HSA), or 60-min incubation with the calcium ionophore A23187 (both treatments induce sperm acrosomal changes termed capacitation and acrosome reaction). We found that antigen recognized by H316 is immunoprecipitated as a single, broad 50 kDa band from radiolabeled ionophore-treated sperm extracts and that preincubation of HSA-capacitated sperm with this antibody causes a moderate, but significant, inhibition of hamster egg penetration. These data indicate that the antigen recognized by the H316 monoclonal antibody is synthesized by testicular germ cells and is surface-expressed on capacitated/acrosome-reacted sperm populations. Its potential as a human sperm acrosome reaction marker, and possible biological role in sperm-egg or sperm-lymphocyte interactions, warrants further investigation.