Development of CatSper Inhibitors -
Toward Non-Hormonal Male Contraceptives

PhD defence by Niels Guldager

Assessment Committee

Prof. Mikael Bols, CHEM, University of Copenhagen (Chairperson)
Prof Luca Laraia, DTU
Prof Timo Strünker, University of Münster

Supervisors

Professor Christian Marcus Pedersen
Associate Professor Anders Bach

Department

Department of Chemistry

Place

Building: HCØ, Room: Auditorium 2, Universitetsparken 5, 2100 Copenhagen

Email address to gain access to the thesis: ng@chem.ku.dk.
You will either receive a copy of the thesis or be informed where you can read a physical copy.
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Short description of the thesis

This thesis investigates the development of CatSper inhibitors as potential non-hormonal male contraceptives. CatSper is a sperm-specific ion channel essential for sperm motility and the ability to fertilize an egg. Targeting this channel with small molecules could offer an approach to male contraception without relying on hormones. The thesis explores several known CatSper inhibitors as starting points for drug development. Through medicinal chemistry, synthesis, and biological evaluation, new analogs were developed and investigated to better understand the structural features required for CatSper inhibition. The findings provide new molecules with strong inhibition of sperm motility and contribute to the on-going search for male contraception.