Skip to main content

Delivering proteins to testes could someday treat male infertility

According to the Mayo Clinic, about 15% of couples are infertile, and male infertility plays a role in over one-third of these cases. Often, problems with sperm development are to blame. Now, researchers have found a way to deliver a protein important for sperm cell production directly to mouse testicles, where it restored normal sperm development and allowed previously infertile mice to father pups.
   
 FULL STORY

According to the Mayo Clinic, about 15% of couples are infertile, and male infertility plays a role in over one-third of these cases. Often, problems with sperm development are to blame. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Nano have found a way to deliver a protein important for sperm cell production directly to mouse testicles, where it restored normal sperm development and allowed previously infertile mice to father pups

Male infertility often happens because of a lack of sperm in the semen, which can result from damage to the blood-testis barrier (BTB). This barrier protects reproductive cells from harmful toxicants and drugs, and a protein called PIN1 is important for its function. Mice genetically engineered to lack PIN1 are infertile, with small testes, depleted sperm stem cells and a low sperm count. Although scientists have considered gene therapies to treat male infertility, these procedures are risky because they could cause unwanted genetic changes in reproductive cells that might be passed onto offspring. Hyun-Mo Ryoo and colleagues wanted to develop a system to deliver proteins (such as PIN1) instead of genes to the testes, but first they had to find a way to get proteins through the complex tubes of the testicles and into cells.

The researchers developed a delivery system called Fibroplex, which consisted of spherical nanoparticles made of silk fibroin and a coating of lipids. They loaded PIN1 into Fibroplex, and showed that the particles appeared safe and didn't show signs of toxicity or testicular damage in mice. When the team injected the PIN1-loaded Fibroplex into the testes of young mice with PIN1 deletions, the treatment restored nearly normal PIN1 levels and sperm stem cell numbers and repaired the BTB. Treated mice had normal testicular weight and size and about 50% of the sperm count of wild-type mice. Until about 5 months after treatment, when the protein degraded, the PIN1-Fibroplex-treated mice fathered a similar number of pups as wild-type mice, whereas untreated mice with PIN1 deletions remained infertile. This is the first demonstration of direct delivery of proteins into the testis to treat male infertility, the researchers say.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Beer production

Brewing  is the production of  beer  by steeping  a  starch  source (commonly cereal  grains, the most popular of which is  barley ) [1]  in water and  fermenting  the resulting sweet liquid with  yeast . It may be done in a  brewery  by a commercial brewer, at home by a  homebrewer , or by a variety of traditional methods such as communally by the  indigenous peoples in Brazil  when making  cauim . [2]  Brewing has taken place since around the 6th millennium BC, and archaeological evidence suggests that emerging civilizations including  ancient Egypt [3] and  Mesopotamia  brewed beer. [4]  Since the nineteenth century the  brewing industry  has been part of most western economies. The basic ingredients of beer are water and a  fermentable  starch source such as  malted barley . Most beer is fermented with a  brewer's yeast  and fl...
Post a Comment
Read more

When to see a doctor If you can't ๐Ÿ˜ดsleep In over night or traveld sleep.you may be suffring from inosomia know more about inosomia

What is Insomnia? If you can't sleep, you may be wondering if you have insomnia. Insomnia is a complicated condition. What is the definition of insomnia? According to guidelines from a physician group,  insomnia  is difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, even when a person has the chance to do so. People with insomnia can feel dissatisfied with their sleep and usually experience one or more of the following symptoms : fatigue, low energy, difficulty concentrating, mood disturbances, and decreased performance in work or at school. How long does insomnia last? Insomnia may be characterized based on its duration.  Acute insomnia  is brief and often happens because of life circumstances (for example, when you can't fall asleep the night before an exam, or after receiving stressful or bad news). Many people may have experienced this type of passing sleep disruption, and it tends to resolve without any treatment. Chronic insomnia  is d...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ethanol fermentation

Ethanol fermentation Read in another language Watch this page Edit In ethanol fermentation, (1) one glucose molecule breaks down into two pyruvates. The energy from this exothermic reaction is used to bind the inorganic phosphates to ADP and convert NAD+ to NADH. (2) The two pyruvates are then broken down into two acetaldehydes and give off two CO2 as a by-product. (3) The two acetaldehydes are then converted to two ethanol by using the H- ions from NADH, converting NADH back intoNAD+.                     Ethanol fermentation , also called alcoholic fermentation , is a   biological process   which converts   sugars   such as glucose ,   fructose , and   sucrose   into cellular energy , producing   ethanol   and carbon dioxide   as by-products. Because yeasts   perform this conversion in the absence of   oxygen , alcoholic fermentation   is conside...
3 comments
Read more