Science moves closer to infertility cures

U.S. scientists say advances in the analysis of proteins are providing researchers with an expanding understanding of male infertility.

The San Francisco State University researchers say proteins found in sperm are central to understanding male infertility and could be used to determine new diagnostic methods and fertility treatments.

The research by Assistant Professor Diana Chu and post-doctoral fellow Tammy Wu focused on how proteomics -- a relatively new field involving the function of proteins within cells -- can be successfully applied to infertility, helping identify which proteins in sperm cells are dysfunctional.

"Up to 50 percent of male-factor infertility cases in the clinic have no known cause, and therefore no direct treatment," said the scientists. "The ultimate goal is that a doctor could be able to say to a patient, 'this is the protein that is mis-regulated in your sperm and this is the drug that corrects it or decreases the level of that protein.' "

The research appears in the journal Molecular and Cellular Proteomics.