Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh.
Cell Tissue Res. 2012 Sep;349(3):679-90. doi: 10.1007/s00441-012-1469-6. Epub 2012 Jul 29.
Recent progress in high throughput sequencing and bioinformatic analysis and other biochemical methods have fuelled our appreciation for the important role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in disease, fertility and development. These tiny RNAs were found to be potentially involved in various aspects of cellular processes of reproductive tissues by posttranscriptional regulation of protein coding genes. Mammalian gonads which exhibit strictly regulated spatiotemporal gene expression patterns are also known to express unique sets of miRNAs and genes involved in the miRNA biogenetic pathway. Studies on miRNAs and their associated processing enzymes have evidenced the contribution of these small regulatory RNAs to germ cell differentiation, post-meiotic male germ cell function and growth, and development and maturation of oocytes through pertaining tightly regulated gene expression. The existence, preferential and temporal expression of miRNAs and their processing machinery genes in different stages of testicular and ovarian cellular development have evidenced the potential role of miRNAs in testicular and ovarian physiology. MiRNAs are also found to be associated with functional regulation of gonadal somatic cells, namely Leydig cells and Sertoli cells in testis and granulosa cells/cumulus cells in the ovary in steroid synthesis. Here, we review the recent works on the involvement and diverse roles of miRNAs in the development and physiology of gonadal cells in mammalian reproduction.
近年来，高通量测序和生物信息分析等生化方法的进展，推动了我们对 microRNAs（miRNAs）在疾病、生育和发育中的重要作用的认识。这些微小 RNA 被发现通过对蛋白质编码基因的转录后调控，潜在地参与生殖组织细胞过程的各个方面。众所周知，具有严格调控时空基因表达模式的哺乳动物性腺也表达参与 miRNA 生物发生途径的独特 miRNA 和基因。对 miRNA 及其相关加工酶的研究表明，这些小调控 RNA 对生殖细胞分化、减数后雄性生殖细胞功能和生长以及卵母细胞的发育和成熟通过相关的严格调控基因表达作出了贡献。miRNAs 和它们的加工机器基因在睾丸和卵巢细胞发育的不同阶段的存在、偏好和时空表达，证明了 miRNAs 在睾丸和卵巢生理学中的潜在作用。miRNAs 也被发现与性腺体细胞（即睾丸中的 Leydig 细胞和 Sertoli 细胞以及卵巢中的颗粒细胞/卵丘细胞）的功能调节有关，在类固醇合成中。在这里，我们综述了最近关于 miRNAs 在哺乳动物生殖中参与和调节性腺细胞发育和生理学的研究进展。
