Carbohydrates are candidates for the basis of species-selective interaction of gametes during mammalian fertilization. In this study, we sought to clarify the roles of sugar residues in the species-selective, sperm-oocyte interaction in pigs and cattle. Acrosome-intact porcine and bovine sperm exhibited their strongest binding affinities for β-Gal and α-Man residues, respectively. Porcine-sperm...

Interactions between early developing Schistosoma mansoni larval stages and the hemolymph of its snail intermediate host represent the first molecular encounter with the snail's immune system. To gain a more comprehensive understanding of this early parasite-host interaction, biotinylated sporocyst tegumental membrane (Mem) proteins and larval transformation proteins (LTP) were affixed to strep...

A lectin from the hemolymph of the banana shrimp Penaeus (Fenneropenaeus) merguiensis expressed higher agglutination activity against rabbit erythrocytes than those from human, and its activity was Cadependent. The hemagglutinating activity of the hemolymph lectin was stable up to 55 C and optimal at pH 7.5-8.0. N-acetylated sugars, ManNAc, GlcNAc, GalNAc, and NeuNAc, were effective inhibitors ...

Blood group A + H substance purified from hog gastric mucin was fixed to polystyrene particles by physical absorption to produce a lectin-agglutinable latex. Agglutination of this latex by soybean agglutinin, concanavalin A, and wheat germ agglutinin is specifically inhibited by the respective monosaccharide haptens and is not affected by known noninhibitory sugars. The sensitivity of the assay...

The egg jelly of the starfish Asterias amurensis was separated into the fractions J1, J2, and J3 on a Sephadex G-100 column. The Jl fraction induced the acrosome reaction and J2 induced sperm agglutination. Chemical analysis and chromatography revealed that sperm agglutinin is similar to asterosaponin A.

Naturally-occurring anti-sperm antibodies (ASA) in men can affect fertility by various mechanisms. Some of them are mainly related to the extent of the sperm autoimmunization (e.g., sperm-agglutination and impaired cervical mucus penetration); others are also related to immunoglobulin (Ig)-isotype (e.g., complement-mediated sperm injury through the female genital tract), or to antigenic specifi...

The cell surfaces of five enteropathogenic Escherichia coli serotypes (O111:H2; O111:H12; O125:H9; O119:H6; O26:H11) were assayed by chemical methods, lectin agglutination tests and spectroscopy associated to transmission electron microscopy. Results of lectin agglutination assays showed that all strains reacted with mannosebinding lectins. Strains belonging to serotype O125:H9 also agglutinate...

A great increase in hybridization frequency of cultured rodent cells was obtained when conventional cell fusion using 50% polyethylene glycol (PEG) was combined with a cell agglutination produced by plant lectins. The rate of appearance of hybrid colonies was found to be correlated with the extent of cell agglutination by lectin, as well as with cell fusion induced by subsequent PEG treatment. ...