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The acrosome plays a critical role in sperm-oocyte interactions during fertilization. SP-10 is an acrosomal matrix protein, which is evolutionarily conserved among mammals. The SP-10 antibody has been shown to be useful for staging the seminiferous cycle in the mouse and human. A canonical acrosomal marker; however, has never been used for staging in the horse. The objectives of the present study were to investigate the presence of SP-10 within the horse acrosome using an anti-mouse SP-10 antibody, to classify spermatids based on the shape of the acrosome, and then to use that information to assign stages of the cycle of the seminiferous epithelium. Testes from mature stallions with history of normospermic ejaculates were used for immunohistochemistry. We found that the mouse SP-10 antibody stained the horse acrosome vividly in testis cross-sections, indicating evolutionary conservation. Previous methods based on morphology alone without the aid of an antibody marker showed 8 stages in the horse seminiferous epithelium. Morphological detail of the acrosome afforded by the SP-10 marker in this study identified 16 steps of spermatids. This, in turn, led to the identification of 12 distinct stages in the cycle of the seminiferous epithelium of the horse wherein stage I shows recently formed round spermatids and stage XII includes meiotic divisions; a classification that is consistent with other animal models. The SP-10 antibody marks the acrosome in a way that enables researchers in the field to identify stages of spermatogenesis in the horse easily. In conclusion, we demonstrated that immunolabeling for SP-10 can be an objective approach to stage the cycle of the seminiferous epithelium in normospermic stallions; future studies will determine if SP-10 could be used to assess testicular dysfunction.

The human sperm antigen SP-10 is a testis-specific protein associated with the real matrix of the acrosomal vesicle in developing spermatids and the acrosomal matrix and membranes of ejaculated sperm. A previous study, utilizing somatic cell hybrids, localized the gene for SP-10 to chromosome 11 and assigned the gene symbol ACRV1 (acrosomal vesicle protein-1). Although previous analysis of several somatic cell hybrids containing portions of chromosome 11 indicated that ACRV1 was in the p12 → q13 region, the present fluorescence in situ hybridization studies using cDNA, ribo, and genomic versions of probes for SP-10 coupled to analysis of an expanded series of somatic cell hybrids demonstrated the refined localization of ACRV1 to the junction of bands q23 and q24 of chromosome 11. A comparison of the three types of probes used for the in situ study demonstrated that while the genomic probe hybridized most efficiently, the riboprobe hybridized to the same location and was superior to the cDNA probe in mapping this single-copy gene. This report emphasizes the utility of riboprobes for chromosome localization of single-copy genes.