Image of the Month: Defective sperm

June 4, 2024 defective sperm, male infertility, Research

**CDD-2807 produces morphological changes in sperm.** Representative scanning electron microscope images of normal sperm from control mice and abnormal sperm from CDD-2807-treated mice. Unlike fertile control animals, which have sperm with a sickle-shaped head and a rigid tail, CDD-2807 treated animals have sperm with a blunted tip head and a coiled tail, and are infertile. Image courtesy of the authors/Matzuk lab/*Science*, 2024.

Defective sperm cells, such as that in the image on the right, lead to male infertility. Drs. Martin Matzuk, Angela Ku, Courtney Sutton and their collaborators have identified a small molecule, CDD-2807, that can induce major changes in sperm form, as shown in the image, and motility in animal models, which lead to infertility. Importantly, the changes in sperm as well as infertility are reversible. Their findings, published in Science, support continuing investigations to determine whether this approach can be developed into a birth control pill for men.