Fibronectin fragments in human seminal plasma.

Abstract

The study has revealed the presence of fibronectin (FN) fragments and a lack of intact FN in 72 seminal plasma samples. The FN fragmentation was examined by immunoblotting with a monoclonal antibody specific to the central cellular FN domain and was confirmed with a monoclonal antibody directed to the C-terminal domain of FN. Nine FN fragments between 60 and 200 kDa and five fragments of 60-150 kDa were identified in seminal plasma samples of normozoospermic and of terato-, oligoterato-, and oligoasthenoterato-spermic groups, respectively. The relative amounts of the 60, 90 and 100 kDa FN fragments were 2-3 times higher in seminal plasmas with abnormal semen characteristics than in the normozoospermic group. The results suggest that seminal plasma FN fragments may contribute to fertilization and the analysis of FN fragmentation may have a diagnostic value in andrological investigations.

Fibronectin Pattern in Benign Hyperplasia and Cancer of the Prostate

“…Generally, FN fragments are reported to be characteristic of various pathological conditions. They can be generated through metalloproteinase or kallikrein activity and released from tissue into the circulation [20,21,37,38]. BPH and PCa are accompanied with elevated serum concentrations of kallikrein-3, but no correlation with FN concentration in cancer has been found [28].…”

Identification of putative drug targets for human sperm-egg interaction defect using protein network approach

“…Furthermore, FN is a constituent of the seminal fluid and a ubiquitous multifunctional glycoprotein that plays an important role in the formation of seminal gel after ejaculation. It can bind to cellular components that are visible once spermatozoa is impaired and consequently assists in selecting damaged spermatozoa [ 34 , 35 ]. An increase in fibronectin expression of infertile patients compared to fertile cases has been reported [ 36 ].…”

Fucose and Sialic Acid Expressions in Human Seminal Fibronectin andα1-Acid Glycoprotein Associated with Leukocytospermia of Infertile Men

“…The concentration of fibronectin was determined by sandwich ELISA [15], using mouse monoclonal antibody directed to cell-binding domain of human FN (FN30-8; TAKARA, Japan; 1:10 000) and human plasma FN preparation (0.4-50 ng/100 μl; Sigma Chemical Co, St Louis, MO, USA) as a standard.…”

“…Fibronectin of an ejaculate is produced by peritubular myoid cells of testis [31]. In seminal plasma, FN is present as a set of FN fragments [15] released into the seminal fluid during lysis of the gel structure [21]. Seminal plasma totally lacks the intact fibronectin form and consists of FN fragments derived from those FN domains which are known to be glycosylated, i.e.…”

“…Seminal plasma totally lacks the intact fibronectin form and consists of FN fragments derived from those FN domains which are known to be glycosylated, i.e. the cell-binding domain [15,35] and collagendomain [17]. Distribution of hypo-and a-sialylated FN glycoforms has been found to be associated with abnormal semen parameters and with high concentrations of fibronectin [14].…”