Carbohydrate affinity chromatography indicates that arylsulfatase-A from capacitated boar sperm has mannose and N-acetylglucosamine/sialic acid residues.

Carbohydrate residues on membrane proteins from sperm are important in gamete interaction. In recent years, Arylsulfatase A (AS-A) has been acquiring an important role from the various putative gamete interaction responsibles in sperm. The aim of this study was to determine if the capacitated boar sperm Arylsulfatase-A (AS-A), contains D-mannose, N-acetylglucosamine and/or sialic acid residues by its purification using affinity chromatography with Concanavalia ensiformis Agglutinin(Con-A) or Wheat Germ Agglutinin (WGA) as ligands. Sperm samples were capacitated in TALP-HEPES medium. Protein extract was added to the affinity columns. Sequencing of retained proteins was done after SDS-PAGE. Total capacitated sperm proteins electrophoresis showed molecular masses between 14 kDa and 102 kDa. A major band of 68 kDa, and 2 minor bands of 52 kDa and 47 kDa were observed. They were AS-A, hyaluronidase and lactadherin, respectively. The Con-A-retained proteins (RP) pattern showed bands from 14 to 98 kDa. After sequencing and BLAST analysis, the 62 kDa band corresponded to Arylsulfatase-A. The WGA RP fraction showed bands from 14 to 100 kDa. The 65 kDa band corresponded to AS-A. This study showed that AS-A has mannose, N-acetylglucosamine and/or sialic acid residues as part of its glycosilation. In this study AS-A was isolated from boar capacitated sperm by affinity chromatography using separately Con-A and WGA, indicating that there are mannose, N-acetylglucosamine and/or sialic acid residues in its glycosilation. AS-A is a membrane protein of capacitated sperm. Further investigation is needed to fully characterize the glycosidic residues bore by AS-A and to determine its function.