Human Reproduction vol.12 no.9 pp.1915–1919, 1997

Induction of messenger RNA for the 70 kDa heat shock protein in HeLa cells and the human endocervix following exposure to semen: implications for antisperm antibody production and susceptibility to sexually transmitted infections J.Jeremias1, S.S.David2, M.Toth1 and S.S.Witkin1,3 isms have evolved to limit the female’s immune response to the male gamete (Witkin, 1988a). Numerous molecules with1Division of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Department of immune suppressor activity exist in seminal fluid (James andObstetrics and Gynecology, Cornell University Medical College and Hargreave, 1984). Living motile spermatozoa dramatically2Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, USA inhibited immune responses following their inoculation into mice (Hurtenbach and Shearer, 1982) and rabbits (Richards et3To whom correspondence should be addressed at: Department of al., 1984). In vitro, human spermatozoa failed to induceObstetrics and Gynecology, Cornell University Medical College