A sulfated glycoprotein synthesized by Sertoli cells and by epididymal cells is a component of the sperm membrane

We report here the purification, partial characterization and immunofluorescent localization of a dimeric acidic glycoprotein (DAG-protein) secreted by cultures of Sertoli cells of rat testes. Partially purified protein was obtained after chromatography over Sepharose 4B under conditions which favored a soluble, nonaggregated form of the protein. Rechromatography over the same column under reducing conditions yielded very pure monomers of 41,000 daltons and 29,000 daltons. Antibodies were prepared against the mixed monomers and used to immunoprecipitate proteins in spent medium from cultures incubated with [35S] methionine, 35SO4 = or tunicamycin. DAG-protein and another protein (Band 4, 70,000 daltons) were coprecipitated by the antiserum and all contained 35SO4 = in their structures. It was shown by Western blotting that the antiserum cross-reacted very weakly with Band 4 protein. The DAG-protein polypeptides secreted in the presence of tunicamycin were assumed to lack N-glycosylation and exhibited apparent molecular weights of 27,000 and 21,000 daltons. Immunoprecipitations of media from organ cultures of testis and epididymis yielded DAG-protein of slightly lower molecular weight than the protein secreted in Sertoli cell cultures. Indirect immunofluorescence of DAG-protein in paraffin sections of testis and epididymis revealed that the protein was concentrated in the cytoplasm of Sertoli cells, on the stereocilia of epididymal principal cells, in the cytoplasm of epididymal halo cells, and was associated with late spermatids and mature sperm. Sperm were specifically labeled on the acrosome, at the neck, and on the endpiece of the tail. No enzymatic or structural function has been ascribed to DAG-protein as yet, but the protein must play a pivotal role in spermatogenesis because it is secreted by both the testis and epididymis and becomes an integral component of sperm.