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Review
. 2018 Aug 29;37(1):206.
doi: 10.1186/s13046-018-0870-8.

Advances in circular RNAs and their roles in breast Cancer

Xuehui Wang  1   2 , Lin Fang  3
Affiliations
Review

Advances in circular RNAs and their roles in breast Cancer

Xuehui Wang et al. J Exp Clin Cancer Res. .

Abstract

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a type of noncoding RNAs with a closed loop structure. With the development of high-throughput sequencing, massive circRNAs have been discovered in tumorous tissues. Emerging evidence suggests that the biological functions of circRNAs including serving as ceRNAs or miRNA sponges, interacting with proteins, regulating gene transcription and translation, suggesting that circRNAs will be novel biomarkers and targets for the diagnosis and prognosis of diseases. Breast cancer is the most frequently occurring cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related death among women worldwide. It is vital to understand the molecular pathways involved in the pathogenesis of proliferation and progression. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on human circRNAs and their potential clinical implications on breast cancer.

Keywords: Biomarker; Breast cancer; Circular RNA; Treatment; miRNA.

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Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Biogenesis of circRNAs: (A) conventional splicing; (B) lariat-driven circularization; (C) intron-pairing-driven circularization; (D) intron cyclization; (E) the formation of tricRNA
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Functions of circRNAs: (F) miRNA sponges; (G) bind and sequester proteins; (H) regulate gene transcription; (I) translation
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
CircRNA regulates the proliferation and progression of breast cancer via cancer-associated signaling pathways: (J) ciRS -7 could act as a miR-7 inhibitor to weaken the suppression of miR-7 to STAT3 pathway; (K) ciRS -7 could participate in the activation of EGFR pathway via inhibiting miR-7; (L) circ-Foxo3 can up-regulate Foxo3 protein levels by binding to a number of microRNAs shared with the Foxo3 linear mRNA, inducing cell apoptosis and inhibit progression of breast cancer through PI3K/AKT/FOXO pathway
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
The Research strategies for circRNAs
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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