Lab Team

My overall research goal is to better understand the molecular events leading to acquisition of fertilization competence in mammalian sperm, which could lead to development of male contraceptives and/or diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for male infertility. My project focuses on the regulation of capacitation by post-translational modifications such as lysine acetylation and sAC-dependent PKA phosphorylation.

My main research goal is to use a mouse model to study the localization and distribution of soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC) in sperm cells and somatic tissues as well as understanding isoform and possible binding partners of this protein. 

In addition, I'm working in studying the safety and toxicity of sAC inhibitors and assisting in testing such inhibitors in mammalian animal models. For this project, I was awarded a fellowship from the Male Contraceptive Initiative (MCI). 

My main research goal is to biochemically characterize the interaction between soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC, ADCY10), the sperm-specfic Na+/H+ exchanger (sNHE, SLC9C1), and transmembrane protein 217 (TMEM217) in human cell lines. This could lead to identifying novel sperm-specific male contraceptive targets.