Research fromthe University of Newcastle and the Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) may help create non-hormonal male contraceptives and offer insights into fertility and overall health.
HMRI researcher and Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Newcastle University, David Skerrett-Byrne PhD, has, for the first time, profiled 6000 sperm proteins.
Skerrett-Byrne said in an HMRI news release that he was able to profile these proteins using a process called phosphorylation, which activates or deactivates a protein.
“Identifying these proteins and then taking them through a process of phosphorylation helps us understand the process that switches proteins on and off,” he said.
“The potential for this is that we could eventually use drugs to target specific proteins and maybe even create a non-hormonal male contraceptive.”…