This blog series highlights pertinent publications that were featured in MCI’s monthly newsletter editions in the fourth quarter of 2025. The purpose of this blog is to report interesting or relevant work from MCI Fellows, Grantees, staff members, and other community authors in the field of male contraception.
This MCI and Gates-supported international survey of thousands of men and their female partners reveals strong global support for shared contraceptive responsibility, but also highlights common concerns about potential side effects and performance, which must be addressed in the rollout of new male methods.
Sperm capacitation triggers transcriptomic changes linked to the proteasome-mediated ubiquitin-dependent catabolic pathway
This paper adds to the growing body of evidence suggesting that the ubiquitin/proteasome protein degradation pathway plays an important role in the functionality of mature sperm, which suggests the exciting possibility that targeted degraders like PROTACs and molecular glues, which use the ubiquitin/proteasome system to degrade proteins of interest, could be a powerful new drug development approach for male contraceptives.