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Review
. 2013 Apr 3;32(7):923-5.
doi: 10.1038/emboj.2013.53. Epub 2013 Mar 5.

Circular RNAs: splicing's enigma variations

Matthias W Hentze  1 , Thomas Preiss
Affiliations
Review

Circular RNAs: splicing's enigma variations

Matthias W Hentze et al. EMBO J. .

Abstract

Nature advance online publication February 27 2013; doi:; DOI: 10.1038/nature11993

Nature advance online publication February 27 2013; doi:; DOI: 10.1038/nature11928

Circular (circ)RNAs are to transcriptomics what the famous hidden musical theme is to Elgar’s Enigma Variations: woven into the entire composition but not unambiguously identified or understood by scholars to this day. Now, two studies (Hansen et al, 2013; Memczak et al, 2013) have made substantial progress in both, identifying thousands of circRNAs and beginning to crack the enigma of their cellular function, by demonstrating that the circRNAs CiRS-7/CDR1as and SRY function as natural and highly stable sponges for specific microRNAs.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Biogenesis and functions of circular RNAs. (A) A gene can be transcribed and spliced into linear and circular RNAs. Note the unique ‘head-to-tail’ splice junctions formed by an acceptor splice site at the 5′ end of an exon and a donor site at the 3′ end of a downstream exon. A demonstrated role for circRNAs is to act as a microRNA sponge. (B) Pictograms of additional plausible options for circRNA function. See main text for details.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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