{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,25]],"date-time":"2026-04-25T05:31:30Z","timestamp":1777095090117,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,30]],"date-time":"2021-03-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1617062400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Andrology"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,7]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>Male infertility is a multifactorial syndrome with diverse phenotypic representations. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non\u2010coding RNAs that are involved in the post\u2010transcriptional regulation of gene expression. Altered abundance levels of <jats:italic>ODF2<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>UBQLN3<\/jats:italic> have been reported in patients with different spermatogenic impairments. However, the transcriptional regulation of these two genes by miR\u201023a\/b\u20103p is still unclear.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title><jats:p>To investigate experimentally whether miR\u201023a\/b\u20103p targets the genes <jats:italic>ODF2<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>UBQLN3<\/jats:italic> and whether this targeting impacts abundance levels of <jats:italic>ODF2<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>UBQLN3<\/jats:italic> in patients with oligoasthenozoospermia.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Materials and methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>A total of 92 men attending a fertility clinic were included in the study, including 46 oligoasthenozoospermic men and 46 age\u2010matched normozoospermic volunteers who served as controls. Reverse transcription\u2010quantitative PCR (RT\u2010qPCR), Western blot, and dual\u2010luciferase (Firefly\u2010Renilla) assays were used to validate the miRNAs and their target genes.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>RT\u2010qPCR revealed that miR\u201023a\/b\u20103p was more abundant and <jats:italic>ODF2<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>UBQLN3<\/jats:italic> targets were less abundant in men with impaired spermatogenesis. Besides, Western blot shows that ODF2 and UBQLN3 protein levels were reduced in men with impaired spermatogenesis. In silico prediction and dual\u2010luciferase assays revealed that potential links exist between the higher abundance level of miR\u201023a\/b\u20103p and the lower abundance level of <jats:italic>ODF2<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>UBQLN3<\/jats:italic> targets. Mutations in the miR\u201023a\/b\u20103p\u2010binding site within the 3\u02caUTRs (3\u02cauntranslated regions) of <jats:italic>ODF2<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>UBQLN3<\/jats:italic> genes resulted in abrogated responsiveness to miR\u201023a\/b\u20103p. Correlation analysis showed that sperm count, motility, and morphology were negatively correlated with miR\u201023a\/b\u20103p and positively correlated with the lower abundance level of <jats:italic>UBQLN3<\/jats:italic>, while <jats:italic>ODF<\/jats:italic> lower abundance level was positively correlated with sperm motility.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>Findings indicate that the higher abundance level of miR\u201023a\/b\u20103p and the lower abundance level of <jats:italic>ODF2<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>UBQLN3<\/jats:italic> targets are associated with oligoasthenozoospermia and male subfertility.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1111\/andr.13004","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,30]],"date-time":"2021-03-30T21:54:25Z","timestamp":1617141265000},"page":"1137-1144","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":25,"title":["MicroRNA\u2010targeting in spermatogenesis: Over\u2010expressions of microRNA\u201023a\/b\u20103p and its affected targeting of the genes <i>ODF2<\/i> and <i>UBQLN3<\/i> in spermatozoa of patients with oligoasthenozoospermia"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"9","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9048-4958","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Masood","family":"Abu\u2010Halima","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Human Genetics Saarland University Homburg Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Anouar","family":"Belkacemi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology Saarland University Center for Molecular Signaling (PZMS) Homburg Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Basim M.","family":"Ayesh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Laboratory Medical Sciences Alaqsa University Gaza Palestine"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lea","family":"Simone Becker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Human Genetics Saarland University Homburg Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Amer M.","family":"Sindiani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and IVF Jordan University of Science and Technology Irbid Jordan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ulrike","family":"Fischer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Human Genetics Saarland University Homburg Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mohamad","family":"Hammadeh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and IVF Saarland University Homburg 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