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C A Pessot

Publications and source records attributed to C A Pessot.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

Small nuclear ribonucleoprotein polypeptides in rat sperm.

1. Immunoblot analysis of rat sperm head proteins revealed the presence of polypeptides recognized by anti-Sm serum obtained from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. 2. Two of these polypeptides have molecular weights of 26,000 and 15,000 and they were identified as small nuclear ribonucleoprotein components present in other rat tissues. 3. When the autoimmune serum was used in the immuno-gold procedure for electron microscopy, gold particles were found only on the sperm nucleus. 4. The results indicate that some polypeptides of the small nuclear ribonucleoprotein complex are components of the rat sperm chromatin.

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Presence of RNA in the sperm nucleus.

The RNase-colloidal gold procedure for the ultrastructural localization of RNA was used for rat testis. Along with other structures, it was found that the testicular sperm nucleus was well stained. Similar labelling was observed in the nucleus of rat epididymal sperm and human sperm. The RNA was extracted from sperm and analyzed by electrophoresis on 10% polyacrylamide gel and 7 M urea. The electrophoretic profile revealed a complex set of bands ranging in size from tRNA to high molecular weight components. On the average, a content of about 0.1 pg of RNA per rat or human sperm was found.

Animals↗