Male sterility is a worldwide health problem which has troubled many unfortunate families and attracted widespread attention in the field of reproduction. Retinoic acid (RA) is a metabolite of vitamin A. Previous studies have shown that insufficient intake of vitamin A can lead to male infertility. Similarly, RA-deficiency can lead to abnormal spermatogenesis in men. RA signaling is inseparable from hormone stimulation, such as FSH, testosterone and others. It can regulate spermatogenesis as well, including the proliferation and differentiation of spermatogonia, meiosis, spermiogenesis and spermiation. To promote or inhibit spermatogenesis, RA regulates Stra8, Kit, GDNF, BMP4 and other factors in various pathways. At the self-renewal stage, RA inhibits spermatogonia renewal by directly or indirectly inhibiting DMRT, GDNF and Cyclin. At the stage of differentiation and meiosis, RA controls SSC differentiation through Kit induction and Nanos2 inhibition, and controls spermatogonia meiotic entry through up- regulation of Stra8. At the stage of spermiogenesis, RARα945;, as a key regulator, regulates spermatogenesis by up regulating Stra8 while binding with RA. Although RA plays an important role in all stages of spermatogenesis, RA signaling is more important in the early stage of spermatogonia (spg) differentiation and spermatocyte(spc) meiosis. According to the principle of RA signaling that regulates spermatogenesis, we also speculate on the future clinical application of RA, such as potential induction of SSC in vitro, contraception and restoring spermatogenesis. This paper reviews the regulatory pathways of RA, and prospects the clinical applications of RA signaling in the future.
©The Author(s) 2022. Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons CC-BY International License.