Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38377053›Full record

ArticlePloS one2024

Sperm Toolbox-A selection of small molecules to study human spermatozoa.

Franz S Gruber, Anthony Richardson, Zoe C Johnston, Rachel Myles, Neil R Norcross, David P Day, Irene Georgiou, Laura Sesma-Sanz, Caroline Wilson, Kevin D Read and 4 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
1.6field-weighted citation impact, top 18% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. A phenotypicHuman reproduction open · 2026
    Article
  3. Review
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Franz S GruberDivisions of Computational Biology and Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, and National Phenotypic Screening Centre, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom.
Anthony RichardsonDrug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom.ORCID 0009-0005-3690-3409
Zoe C JohnstonDivision of Systems Medicine, School of Medicine, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom.
Rachel MylesDivision of Systems Medicine, School of Medicine, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom.
Neil R NorcrossDrug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom.
David P DayDrug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom.
Irene GeorgiouDrug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom.
Laura Sesma-SanzDivisions of Computational Biology and Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, and National Phenotypic Screening Centre, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom.
Caroline WilsonDrug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom.
Kevin D ReadDrug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom.
Sarah Martins da SilvaDrug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom.
Christopher L R BarrattDivision of Systems Medicine, School of Medicine, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom.
Ian H GilbertDrug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom.
Jason R SwedlowDivisions of Computational Biology and Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, and National Phenotypic Screening Centre, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0002-2198-1958
University of Dundee · GB

Funding

Gates Foundation INV-007117
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Male contraceptive options and infertility treatments are limited, and almost all innovation has been limited to updates to medically assisted reproduction protocols and methods. To accelerate the development of drugs that can either improve or inhibit fertility, we established a small molecule library as a toolbox for assay development and screening campaigns using human spermatozoa. We have profiled all compounds in the Sperm Toolbox in several automated high-throughput assays that measure stimulation or inhibition of sperm motility or the acrosome reaction. We have assayed motility under non-capacitating and capacitating conditions to distinguish between pathways operating under these different physiological states. We also assayed cell viability to ensure any effects on sperm function are specific. A key advantage of our studies is that all compounds are assayed together in the same experimental conditions, which allows quantitative comparisons of their effects in complementary functional assays. We have combined the resulting datasets to generate fingerprints of the Sperm Toolbox compounds on sperm function. The data are included in an on-line R-based app for convenient querying.

Indexed as

SemenSperm MotilityAcrosome ReactionFertilityHumansMaleSpermatozoa

Identifiers

PMID38377053
PMCPMC10878532
OpenAlexW4391954470

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.