- Title
- Development of peptides for targeting cell ablation agents concurrently to the Sertoli and Leydig cell populations of the testes: An approach to non-surgical sterilization
- Creator
- Fraser, Barbara; Wilkins, Alex; Whiting, Sara; Liang, Mingtao; Rebourcet, Diane; Nixon, Brett; Aitken, Robert John
- Relation
- PLoS One Vol. 19, Issue 4, no. e0292198
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0292198
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLOS)
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2024
- Description
- The surgical sterilization of cats and dogs has been used to prevent their unwanted breeding for decades. However, this is an expensive and invasive procedure, and often impractical in wider contexts, for example the control of feral populations. A sterilization agent that could be administered in a single injection, would not only eliminate the risks imposed by surgery but also be a much more cost-effective solution to this worldwide problem. In this study, we sought to develop a targeting peptide that would selectively bind to Leydig cells of the testes. Subsequently, after covalently attaching a cell ablation agent, Auristatin, to this peptide we aimed to apply this conjugated product (LH2Auristatin) to adult male mice in vivo, both alone and together with a previously developed Sertoli cell targeting peptide (FSH2Menadione). The application of LH2Auristatin alone resulted in an increase in sperm DNA damage, reduced mean testes weights and mean seminiferous tubule size, along with extensive germ cell apoptosis and a reduction in litter sizes. Together with FSH2Menadione there was also an increase in embryo resorptions. These promising results were observed in around a third of all treated animals. Given this variability, we discuss how these reagents might be modified in order to increase target cell ablation and improve their efficacy as sterilization agents.
- Subject
- cats; dogs; sterilization; unwanted breeding
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1502314
- Identifier
- uon:55214
- Identifier
- ISSN:1932-6203
- Rights
- © 2024 Fraser et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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