Incorporation of isoleucine into protein by a soluble fraction from spermatozoa.

A heat-labile, non-dialyzable factor(s) in soluble fractions from porcine, bull, rabbit and cock spermatozoa was found to incorporate the radioactivity of [14C]isoleucine into a 95 degrees C CCl3COOH-insoluble fraction. The incorporation required ATP, Mg2+, casein and 2-mercaptoethanol. Trypsin and alpha-chymotrypsin inhibited the incorporation, while RNase A and DNase I did not. A mixture of 19 amino acids other than isoleucine had no effect on the incorporation. The reaction product was identified as protein. The incorporated moiety was the isoleucyl moiety of isoleucine and it retained a free alpha-amino group in the product protein. Some other characteristics of this incorporation are also described.