Sperm’s ability to move plays a big role in male fertility Shutterstock A compound that renders sperm immobile has shown promise as a reversible form of contraception in mice. The choices of for men are limited to using condoms or having a vasectomy. “We definitely need more options,” says at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas.
Now, he and his colleagues have identified a potential new target — a protein expressed by the gene that is found in high concentrations in the testes of mice and men. Advertisement Read more “In the absence of the STK33 protein, mice and human sperm wind up having very abnormal sperm tails, which causes motility defects,” says Matzuk. Studies have also shown that due to having malformed sperm.
To identify a compound that could bind to and inhibit the activity of the STK33 protein, the team combed through a library containing billions of chemicals, looking for a suitable molecule. Eventually, they found a candidate called CDD-2807. Get the most essential health and fitness news in your inbox every Saturday.
Next, the team injected six male mice with CDD-2807 twice a day for 21 days and another seven male mice once a day for the same amount of time. After those three weeks, they housed all the male mice with females, while continuing the treatment for around another 40 days. Only one mouse across both groups had impregnated a female by the end of the 40 days.
That mouse only sired one pup, whereas mice litters typically have up to six pups,.
