英澳科学家或取得男性避孕药突破

开始神话

2013年12月5日讯  --长期以来，科学家们都在寻找没有副作用的男性避孕药。而最近英国和澳大利亚科学家的一项研究表明他们距离这一目标或许不再遥远。在12月2日发表在Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences的一项研究显示，名为α1A-adrenoceptor和P2X1-purinoceptor的两种蛋白或在射精过程中扮演重要角色。而这一猜想也已经在小鼠实验中得到证实。下一步研究人员将寻求根据这种原理设计出男性口服避孕药，并开始检测其有效性和安全性。

详细英文报道：

For decades, scientists have been trying to find potential drugs to serve as male contraceptives to no avail. Now, a new male contraceptive could finally be within grasp with the discovery of a dual protein linked to sperm ejaculation.

Detailed in the Dec. 2 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Australia, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Melbourne and University of Leicester in the U.K., has figured out a way to block the transport of sperm during ejaculation by blocking two key proteins.

In a mouse model, investigators found the absence of these two proteins--α1A-adrenoceptor and P2X1-purinoceptor, which are found on the smooth muscle cells that trigger sperm transport--caused infertility without impacting long-term sexual behavior or function.

"Previous strategies have focused on hormonal targets or mechanisms that produce dysfunctional sperm incapable of fertilization, but they often interfere with male sexual activity and cause long term irreversible effects on fertility," lead researcher Dr. Sab Ventura said in a statement.

When these two proteins are knocked out simultaneously, the effect is complete male infertility, according to the researchers. Ventura's team is hopeful that the newfound method could provide the basis of a male contraceptive pill.

"This suggests a therapeutic target for male contraception. The next step is to look at developing an oral male contraceptive drug, which is effective, safe and readily reversible," Ventura said.

开始神话

分子检测有望避免乳腺癌过度治疗