Generation of monoclonal antibodies against human spermatozoa and seminal plasma constituents.
Five mouse myeloma X splenocyte hybridoma cell lines synthesizing monoclonal antibody against human sperm were generated. Antibodies from three clones (VII 5, A-24 and B-20) exhibited high reactivity with sperm, as well as with seminal plasma in enzyme-lined immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA) tests, and two clones (VI 1 and VI 16) showed high reactivity only with sperm. Seminal plasma competitively inhibited binding of the monoclonal antibodies (VII 4, A-24 and B-20) to sperm in ELISA. Immunohistochemical studies revealed that the three monoclonal antibody types (VII 5, A-24 and B-20) stained only 5-30% of the sperm strongly, and the rest weakly. Monoclonal antibody types VI 1 and VI 16 showed weak staining of nearly all sperm. None of these monoclonal antibodies possessed sperm-agglutinating or sperm-immobilizing activity. As determined by ELISA the class and subclass specificity of the monoclonal antibodies was: A-24, IgG1 (kappa); B-20, IgG1 (kappa); VI 1, IgG3 (kappa); VI 16, IgG1 (kappa); and VII 5, IgG1 (kappa).