Afzalpurkar A, Shibahara H, Hasegawa A, Koyama K, Gupta S K
Gamete Antigen Laboratory, National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi, India.
Hum Reprod. 1997 Dec;12(12):2664-70. doi: 10.1093/humrep/12.12.2664.
The following synthetic peptides were made as immunogens for development of a zona-based contraceptive vaccine: P1, KQPFWLLQGGASRAETSVQPVLVE [amino acids (aa) 23-45 with an additional K at the N-terminus]; P2, FSEEKLVFSLRLMEENC (aa 164-179 with an additional C at the C-terminus and T170 replaced by V); and P3, CSFSKSSNSWFPVEGPADICQCC (aa 300-322). The aa are numbered on the basis of bonnet monkey ZP3 precursor protein. Antibodies against an additional peptide P4, KGDCGTPSHSRRQPHVVSQWSRSA (aa 324-347), significantly inhibits human sperm-oocyte binding. In addition, antibodies against cocktail of peptide-diphtheria toxoid conjugates also significantly inhibit the binding of spermatozoa to zona pellucida in a hemizona assay. These results will further help in the design of an immunocontraceptive vaccine based upon synthetic peptides corresponding to ZP3.
