Patent ID: 8852860

Claim:
A method of selecting a compound having potential contraceptive activity, the method comprising: (a) contacting a candidate compound with a cell expressing a CatSper1 protein, the CatSper1 protein comprising at least 90% similarity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2, and wherein the CatSper1 protein has CatSper1 activity; (b) measuring an indicator of CatSper1 activity in the cell, wherein the indicator is cation flux across a membrane of the cell, whole cell currents of the cell, or channel currents of the cell; (c) determining whether said candidate compound caused a decrease in CatSper1 activity in the cell relative to CatSper1 activity prior to contact with the candidate compound; and (d) selecting said candidate compound that causes a decrease in CatSper1 activity as having potential contraceptive activity.