Proteins linked to HIV transmission could actually be beneficial for reproduction
In recent years, scientists made the surprising discovery that seminal fluid harbors fragments of proteins that clump together, forming structures called amyloid fibrils. "Amyloid fibrils are normally only found in diseases caused by protein misfolding, such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease, so the natural presence of multiple amyloids in the semen of healthy men was completely unexpected," said Warner C. Greene, MD, PhD, senior investigator and director of the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology. "While these semen amyloids can promote infection by HIV and other sexually transmitted viruses, we speculated they must have a different natural function." Greene, together with Gladstone Visiting Investigator Nadia R. Roan, PhD, and their colleagues set out to identify the natural function of these semen amyloids by focusing on whether they participate in reproduction. Specifically, they looked at their potential effect on sperm activity. ...