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J ten Have

Publications and source records attributed to J ten Have.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2002

Mouse-specific immunocontraceptive polyepitope vaccines.

Two mouse-specific polyepitope protein antigens comprising different combinations of sequences chosen from the mouse fertility antigens zona pellucida proteins 1 and 3 (ZP1 and ZP3), prolactin, proliferin, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), sperm protein SP56 and T-helper cell-stimulating epitopes were produced in bacterial protein expression systems. The recombinant proteins were fused to maltose binding protein (MBP) and used to immunize female mice; their effects on fertility were assessed. Controls were immunized with either MBP only or phosphate buffered saline (PBS). One antigen construct (MBP-polyepitope B), containing mouse-specific epitopes for ZP1, ZP3, SP56 and proliferin, significantly reduced the fertility of female BALB/c mice. Fertility in this group was decreased by > 40% compared with the MBP control and the number of viable embryos was decreased by > 60%. This construct will now be used to produce the antigen in a recombinant murine cytomegalovirus for assessment as a potential mouse-specific anti-fertility vaccine for use in the control of mice in the field.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1998

Cloning and characterization of the cDNA encoding the PH20 protein in the European red fox Vulpes vulpes.

The PH20 protein is thought to play a crucial role in mammalian fertilization. The fox PH20 homologue has been cloned from a testis cDNA library and the deduced protein sequence shows high levels of homology to PH20 proteins isolated from other species. Unlike other PH20 proteins the fox protein does not appear to be membrane associated through a GPI-linkage nor does it show the presence of a transmembrane domain at the C-terminus of the protein. It is in this region that the proteins appear to be least conserved. Immunolocalization studies on fox sperm show that the PH20 protein is located on the inner acrosomal membrane. Transcription of PH20 in the fox is seasonally regulated, with the mRNA expressed during those months when spermatogenesis is at its peak. The PH20 sequence described in this paper has been submitted to the Genbank database and has the accession number U41412.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1995

Cloning and partial characterization of the cDNA encoding the fox sperm protein FSA-Acr.1 with similarities to the SP-10 antigen.

We have isolated and characterized a cDNA, cFSA-Acr.1, encoding a testis-specific fox sperm antigen. The antigen is located on the inner acrosomal compartment, and is expressed during spermatogenesis on the developing acrosome of round and elongating spermatids. Database searches with the deduced amino acid sequence of cFSA-Acr.1 revealed that the clone has high homology to both human and baboon sperm protein SP-10, and the mouse sperm protein, MSA-63. The region of highest homology is within the carboxyl terminus. In the middle of the open reading frame, the fox sequence shows unique sequences absent from both the human, baboon SP-10, and mouse MSA-63 sequences. In addition to cFSA-Acr.1, two other clones were also isolated from the same fox testis cDNA library, and sequence analysis shows that they may represent alternatively spliced mRNAs coding for other FSA-Acr proteins.

Acrosome↗
PubMed1994

Cloning and characterization of a fox sperm protein FSA-1.

A monoclonal antibody was raised to a fox sperm protein (FSA-1) which was found to be localized to the inner acrosomal compartment of sperm fixed in methanol. Western blots of testicular germ cell membrane extracts probed with this antibody identified a major protein band with a molecular weight of 36,000. Immunofluorescent studies on fox testis sections showed that the antigen is expressed on round and elongating spermatids on a crescent-shaped structure, which probably represents the developing acrosome. An antibody specific for FSA-1 was used to screen a fox testis cDNA library for its cognate gene. An 875-bp cDNA clone was isolated and sequenced revealing an open reading frame. Searches of the GenBank and EMBL databases with the nucleic acid sequence revealed significant homology (86%) of FSA-1 with 406 bases of an unidentified RNA transcript from human fetal brain (EST02625). Northern blot analysis of fox testis RNA samples identified an RNA transcript of approximately 0.9 kb during the months when spermatogenesis is active. Zoo Northern blots (at high stringency) reveal an RNA transcript of a similar size present in testis RNA from dogs and mice. Zoo Southern analysis (high stringency) reveal genomic sequences present in dogs, mice, cattle and sheep. At present, the function of the FSA-1 gene product remains unknown, but it may play a role as a structural protein component of the acrosome.

Acrosome↗