SP-10 is a human intra-acrosomal protein that is first detected in the developing acrosome of round spermatids and is observed associated with the acrosomal membranes and matrix of mature sperm. Recombinant SP-10 is currently being tested as a contraceptive vaccine immunogen on the basis of its tissue specificity as well as functional assays indicating that anti-SP-10 antisera inhibit sperm-egg interactions. In the present study, structural characterization of the human SP-10 gene was undertaken to investigate the expression of the gene and to identify possible functions of the SP-10 protein within the acrosome. Genomic blots indicate that SP-10 is encoded by a single-copy gene. Mapping and sequencing of the 8-kb SP-10 gene show that the SP-10 mRNA consists of exons of 119, 487, 113, and 390 bp with each exon coding for a distinct structural domain within the SP-10 protein. An in-frame alternatively spliced form of the SP-10 mRNA, identified during SP-10 cDNA characterization, employs the same 3' splice site as the 487-bp exon and a unique 5' splice site within the 487-bp exon. Previous comparisons of human, baboon, and macaque SP-10 cDNA sequences indicated that the baboon and macaque cDNAs contained 60 bp (20 aa) not present in the human SP-10 cDNA. Analysis of the human SP-10 genomic sequence suggests that a 60-bp deletion may have occurred during the evolution of the human SP-10 gene by homologous recombination.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)