The non-coding genome has been extensively studied for its role in human development and diseases. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs, which can regulate the expression of hundreds of genes at the post-transcriptional level. Therefore, any defects in miRNA biogenesis or processing can affect the genes and have been linked to several diseases. Male infertility is a clinical disorder with a significant number of cases being idiopathic. Problems in spermatogenesis and epididymal maturation, testicular development, sperm maturation or migration contribute to male infertility, and many of these idiopathic cases are related to issues with the miRNAs which tightly regulate these processes. This review summarizes the recent research on various such miRNAs and puts together the candidate miRNAs that may be used as biomarkers for diagnosis. The development of strategies for male infertility treatment using anti-miRs or miRNA mimics is also discussed. Although promising, the development of miRNA diagnostics and therapeutics is challenging, and ways to overcome some of these challenges are also reviewed.

中文翻译：

---

使用miRNA作为男性不育症的诊断生物标志物：机遇与挑战。

由于非编码基因组在人类发展和疾病中的作用，已经对其进行了广泛的研究。微小RNA（miRNA）是小的非编码RNA，可以在转录后水平调节数百个基因的表达。因此，miRNA生物发生或加工中的任何缺陷都可能影响基因，并与多种疾病有关。男性不育是一种临床疾病，其中许多病例是特发性的。精子发生和附睾成熟，睾丸发育，精子成熟或迁移中的问题会导致男性不育，其中许多特发性病例与紧密调控这些过程的miRNA有关。这篇综述总结了对各种此类miRNA的最新研究，并汇总了可用作诊断生物标志物的候选miRNA。还讨论了使用抗miRs或miRNA模拟物治疗男性不育症的策略。尽管前景广阔，但miRNA诊断和治疗方法的开发仍具有挑战性，并且还综述了克服其中一些挑战的方法。