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Review
. 2017 Apr 18:10:2183-2188.
doi: 10.2147/OTT.S134403. eCollection 2017.

Novel insights into circular RNAs in clinical application of carcinomas

Dawei Rong  1 , Weiwei Tang  1 , Zhouxiao Li  1   2 , Jian Zhou  3 , Junfeng Shi  4 , Hanjin Wang  1 , Hongyong Cao  1
Affiliations
Review

Novel insights into circular RNAs in clinical application of carcinomas

Dawei Rong et al. Onco Targets Ther. .

Abstract

Circular RNAs (circRNAs), formed by nonsequential back-splicing of pre-messenger RNA (pre-mRNA) transcripts, have been widely concerned in recent years. With advances in high-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) technology, previous work has revealed that a large number of circRNAs, which are endogenous, abundant and stable in mammalian cells, may be involved in atherosclerotic vascular disease risk, neurological disorders, prion diseases and carcinomas. Remarkably, interaction between circRNAs and microRNA has already been observed to perform a significant role in a variety of cancers, including gastric cancer and colorectal cancer. Recent work has suggested that circRNAs may play critical roles in the initiation and development of cancers and could become potential new biomarkers for cancers. Herein, we review the current understanding of the roles of circRNAs in cancers and the potential implications of circRNAs in cancer-targeted therapy.

Keywords: circular; diagnosis; microRNA; noncoding RNA; targeted therapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mechanism of circRNAs functioning as competing endogenous RNAs or miRNA sponges. Abbreviations: circRNAs, circular RNAs; miRNA, microRNA; mRNA, messenger RNA.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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