Profiling of epididymal small non-protein-coding RNAs.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Our understanding of epididymal physiology and function has been transformed over the three decades in which the International Meeting Series on the Epididymis has been hosted. This transformation has occurred along many fronts, but among the most significant advances has been the unexpected discovery of the diversity of small non-protein-coding RNAs (sRNAs) expressed in the epididymal epithelium and differentially accumulated in the luminal population of spermatozoa. OBJECTIVES: Here we survey recent literature pertaining to profiling the sRNA landscape of the mammalian epididymis with the goal of demonstrating the contribution that these key regulatory elements, and their assoc..