Results
Title

Contraceptive Sperm Agglutinating Proteins Identified in Staphylococcus warneri, Natural Microflora of an Infertile Woman.

Authors

Pant, Neeraj Chandra; Singh, Ravinder; Chauhan, Aditi; Gupta, Vijaya; Mavuduru, Ravimohan S.; Prabha, Vijay; Sharma, Prince

Abstract

Staphylococcus warneri, isolated from the cervix of an adult female with unexplained infertility, was found to agglutinate human spermatozoa in vitro leading to their death. A genomic library of S. warneri was generated using pSMART-Escherichia coli vector-host system. Approximately 3500 transformants were screened and four showed sperm agglutinating activity. Sperm agglutinating proteins (SAPs) were partially purified from the positive transformants and were found to agglutinate sperms in vitro. Cloned ORFs in positive transformants were sequenced and ORF finder identified them as endonuclease, accessory secretory protein-Asp1, accessory secretory protein-Asp2 and signal transduction protein. Mannose was found to competitively inhibit sperm agglutination, indicating that SAPs in S. warneri bind to mannose in glycoprotein receptors on the surface of sperms for agglutination. This is the first report on identification of SAPs which may be responsible for unexplained infertility in women and may be used as contraceptive agents.

Subjects

FEMALE infertility; STAPHYLOCOCCUS aureus infections; STAPHYLOCOCCUS aureus genetics; SPERMICIDES; AGGLUTINATION tests; CONTRACEPTIVES

Publication

Indian Journal of Microbiology, 2019, Vol 59, Issue 1, p51

ISSN

0046-8991

Publication type

Academic Journal

DOI

10.1007/s12088-018-0766-5