Unraveling the dark matter, long non-coding RNAs, in male reproductive diseases: A narrative review

Recent advances in human transcriptome have revealed the fundamental and functional roles of long non-coding RNA in the susceptibility to diverse diseases and pathological conditions. They participate in wide range of biological processes such as the modulating of chromatin structure, transcription, translation, and post-translation modification. In addition, based on their unique expression profiles and their association with clinical abnormalities such as those of related to male reproductive diseases, they can be used to develop therapeutic methods and biomarkers for screening of the diseases. In this study, we will review the identified lncRNAs and their molecular functions in the pathogenesis of male reproductive diseases such as prostate cancer, benign prostatic hyperplasia, prostatitis, testicular cancer, varicocele, and sperm abnormalities.