Guilin Medical University, Guilin, 541004, P. R. China.
Department of Obstetrics and gynecology, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510620, P. R. China.
Transl Res. 2023 Jun;256:73-86. doi: 10.1016/j.trsl.2022.12.006. Epub 2022 Dec 28.
Liquid biopsy has the advantage of diagnosing diseases in a non-invasive manner. Seminal plasma contains secretions from the bilateral testes, epididymides, seminal vesicles, bulbourethral glands, and the prostate. These organs are relatively small and contain delicate tubes that are prone to damage by invasive diagnosis. Cell-free seminal nucleic acids test is a newly emerged item in liquid biopsy. Here, we present a comprehensive overview of all known cell-free DNA and cell-free RNAs (mRNA, miRNA, lncRNA, circRNA, piRNA, YRNA, tsRNA, etc.) and discuss their roles as biomarker candidates in liquid biopsy. With great advantages, including high stability, sensitivity, representability, and non-invasiveness, cell-free DNA/RNAs may be developed as promising biomarkers for the screening, diagnosis, prognosis, and follow-up of diseases in semen-secreting organs. Moreover, RNAs in semen may participate in important processes, including sperm maturation, early embryo development, and transgenerational disease inheritance, which may be developed as potential treatment targets for future clinical use.
液体活检具有非侵入性诊断疾病的优势。精浆包含来自双侧睾丸、附睾、精囊、尿道球腺和前列腺的分泌物。这些器官相对较小，并且包含精细的管，容易受到侵入性诊断的损伤。无细胞精液核酸检测是液体活检中新出现的项目。在这里，我们全面概述了所有已知的无细胞 DNA 和 RNA（mRNA、miRNA、lncRNA、circRNA、piRNA、YRNA、tsRNA 等），并讨论了它们作为液体活检中生物标志物候选物的作用。无细胞 DNA/RNA 具有高稳定性、灵敏度、代表性和非侵入性等优势，可能成为精液分泌器官疾病筛查、诊断、预后和随访的有前途的生物标志物。此外，精液中的 RNA 可能参与精子成熟、早期胚胎发育和跨代疾病遗传等重要过程，可能成为未来临床应用的潜在治疗靶点。
