Research can lead to development of male contraceptive
A research carried out by Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp) points out possibilities that can lead to the development of a male contraceptive. The study published by the Molecular Human Reproduction journal shows that from the Eppin protein, which regulates the ability of sperm to move, it is possible to develop drugs that control men fertility.
According to professor of the Biophysics and Pharmacology Department at Unesp Erick José Ramo da Silva, based on experiments carried out in mice, it has been possible to identify two parts of the protein that regulate the movement of sperm. “It plays a very important role in the control of thematic motility by interacting with other proteins that are in the semen. And these proteins, when interacting with Eppin, foster fine-tuning of motility, that is, the control of motility”, explains the researcher who has been studying the subject for 20 years.
According to Silva, antibodies have been used to discover what are the parts of Eppin, which have a similar function in mice and in humans, that are responsible for regulating the movement of male reproductive cells. After ejaculation, sperm must swim to reach the egg and fertilize it.
However, before ejaculation, sperm do not move. The study has identified precisely which interaction causes cells to stop before the right moment. “What drives sperm inside is the ejaculation process itself. Only after a few minutes of ejaculation sperm acquire the progressive motility to follow their journey”, explains the professor.
Active principle
By understanding in detail how proteins keep sperm still and then activate the movement of these cells, researchers open up the possibility of developing drugs that act in this way. “We study how these proteins interact to understand how they interrupt motility so that we can think of pharmacological strategies, using a compound, an active principle, that can incise this relationship that naturally occurs”, he says.
A drug capable of interrupting the movement of sperm would be a contraceptive with an almost immediate effect, explains Silva.
The study, which began in 2016, was funded by the Research Support Foundation from São Paulo state (Fapesp) and had a partnership with the Departments of Pharmacology and Biological Sciences of the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp), and the Institute of Biology and Experimental Medicine of the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research from Argentina.
Silva says research shall continue on compounds or molecules that can act in the parts identified by the study. In this new stage, scientists from England, Portugal, and the University of São Paulo (USP) shall be working together.
The researcher says, however, that over the last few decades, the development of a male contraceptive has faced difficulties due to lack of funding by pharmaceutical industries.
