UTILIZATION OF SPERM MEMBRANE PROTEIN OBF

摘要

The present invention yielded unique monoclonal antibodies that reacted specifically only to sperms after acrosome reaction, and the antigens (OBFs) recognized by the antibodies were identified. The antibodies were found to inhibit fusion between mouse sperms and eggs. Furthermore, OBF gene-knockout mice were created and analyzed to clarify the in vivo functions of OBF. As a result, male OBF gene-knockout mice were shown to be infertile, and their sperms were shown to be able to bind to eggs, but had no fusion ability.