Abstract:It is well established that sperm maturation is not intrinsic to sperm themselves but acquired during their transit in the epididymis. The unique role of the epididymis in sperm maturation, storage and protection has long been recognized and led to the proposal of the epididymis as a target for contraceptives. We have currently investigated the region-specific gene expression pattern in rat and monkey epididymis (works for monkey were collaborated with Dr. FS French’s lab in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). We have obtained 13 epididymis-specific novel full-length cDNA clones so far (2 in the rat caput region, 4 in monkey caput region, 4 in monkey corpus region and 3 in the monkey cauda region). Further studies of their roles are on the way. Recently, we found that one rat gene, named Bin1b had certain antimicrobial activity and expressed in a high level during the fertile active period of the animal. These results implied that it might be important in sperm maturation and the innate host defense system in epididymis. The results have been published on the top journal Science