RNA espermático: ¿huella de eventos pasados o dote para el embrión?

Abstract

The biological relevance of sperm contribution to the embryo has currently been shown to go beyond a mere transmission of the paternal genome. New findings have revealed that spermatozoa carry a complex and multifunctional population of RNA with a wide range of implications in spermatogenesis, fertilisation, and embryogenesis. Accordingly, the consideration of these molecules as a simple residual pool of earlier processes has been left behind. Besides the coding RNAs, the role of non-coding RNAs has started to be untangled and integrated within the global cell processes, demonstrating their relevance in cellular regulation and epigenetics. Comparative high-throughput expression studies have provided a general impression on the differences in the sperm transcriptome between populations. Hence, a new diagnostic value related to these RNAs has emerged. In this review, an overview of biosynthesis, functions and biological mechanisms of different subtypes of sperm RNAs is presented. The relevance of these molecules during spermatogenesis, their role after fertilisation, and their potential value as fertility biomarkers are also discussed.