2. Academic Validation
  3. Control of offspring sex ratio by injection of TLR 7/8 agonist R848 into father mice

Control of offspring sex ratio by injection of TLR 7/8 agonist R848 into father mice

  • Biol Reprod. 2026 Jan 19:ioag014. doi: 10.1093/biolre/ioag014.
Yunfei Hou 1 2 3 4 5,  Xiaohua He 1 2 3 4 5,  Jingfeng Peng 1 2 3 4 5,  Guke Zhang 1 2 3 4 5,  Xiaopeng Tang 1 2 3 4 5,  Weizhen Wei 1 2 3 4 5,  Zhenfang Wu 1 2 3 4 5,  Linjun Hong 1 2 3 4 5,  Zicong Li 1 2 3 4 5
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.
  • 2 State Key Laboratory of Swine and Poultry Breeding Industry, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.
  • 3 National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Livestock and Poultry Breeding Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.
  • 4 Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.
  • 5 Gene Bank of Guangdong Local Livestock and Poultry, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.
PMID: 41553274 DOI: 10.1093/biolre/ioag014
Abstract

Sex control technologies hold great promise for enhancing animal production efficiency. X chromosome-linked Toll-like Receptor 7/8 (TLR7/8) genes are specifically expressed in mammalian X sperm but not Y sperm. In vitro treatment with the TLR7/8 ligand R848 can separate X and Y sperm by selectively reducing X sperm motility via inhibition of energy production. Fertilization using such treated sperm leads to sex-skewed embryos or offspring. However, whether R848 can be used in vivo to control offspring sex remains unclear. This study tested this hypothesis. We found that the X/Y sperm ratio in the upper layer of caudal epididymal sperm collected at 24 and 72 hours after intraperitoneal R848 injection was 24.09%/75.91% and 63.16%/36.84%, respectively. Mating superovulated females with males at these time points resulted in male- and female-biased litters. Using the upper layer of epididymal sperm collected at 24 and 72 hours after R848 injection for in vitro fertilization, the embryo sex ratio also skew toward male and female, respectively. Our findings demonstrate that intraperitoneal injection of R848 into male mice can dynamically modulate the proportion of mature X and Y sperm in the cauda epididymis, allowing offspring sex control through timed mating. This approach provides a simple and potentially practical method for effective sex ratio intervention in mammals.

Keywords

R848; Toll-like receptor 7/8 (TLR7/8); X/Y sperm ratio; quantitative PCR; sex control; sperm DNA.

Figures
Products