[Extracellular vesicles and male reproduction: Advances in studies]

The transportation of extracellular vesicles (EV) is a newly discovered mechanism of cellular communication, which plays a biological role by interacting with cell surface receptors, endocytosis and direct fusion with target cell membranes. In the field of reproduction, experimental studies have found that EVs can influence the phenotypes and functions of receptor cells related to male reproduction and affect male reproductive health via transferring biological information carriers such as functional proteins and non-coding RNAs. This review focuses on the relationship between EVs and male reproduction from the perspectives of the testis, epididymis, semen, seminal vesicle and prostate, which are closely related to male reproduction, and discusses the new mechanisms affecting male reproductive health from the perspective of EVs.