Phytohaemagglutinin as a molecular probe to study the membrane constituents of human X- and Y-bearing spermatozoa.

Phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) was employed to study the constituents of the cell membrane in X- and Y-bearing human spermatozoa. The presence of certain receptors for PHA was revealed in the equatorial region of about 50% of the spermatozoa. To determine the association of the equatorial staining by PHA with one of the subpopulations of spermatozoa a double staining technique was developed. In this method, the membrane was first stained with PHA employing the indirect immunofluorescence technique and then followed by the conventional quinacrine staining method to demonstrate the F-body. It was shown that spermatozoa which had receptors in the equatorial region for PHA were the ones which exhibited in the F-body. Staining of the membrane with PHA is a better method for the identification of human Y spermatozoa since it does not have the drawbacks of quinacrine staining.