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Review
. 2020 May 7:11:392.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00392. eCollection 2020.

Circular RNA in Schizophrenia and Depression

Zexuan Li  1   2 , Sha Liu  1   2 , Xinrong Li  1   2 , Wentao Zhao  1   2 , Jing Li  1   2 , Yong Xu  1   2   3   4
Affiliations
Review

Circular RNA in Schizophrenia and Depression

Zexuan Li et al. Front Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Schizophrenia (SZ) and depression (DEP) are two common major psychiatric disorders that are associated with high risk of suicide. These disorders affect not only physical and mental health, but they also affect the social function of the individual. However, diagnoses of SZ and DEP are mainly based on symptomatic changes and the clinical experience of psychiatrists. These rather subjective measures can induce misdiagnoses and missed diagnoses. Therefore, it is necessary to further explore objective indexes for improving the early diagnoses and prognoses of SZ and DEP. Current research indicates that non-coding RNA (ncRNA) may play a role in the occurrence and development of SZ and DEP. Circular RNA (circRNA), as an important component of ncRNA, is associated with many biological functions, especially post-transcriptional regulation. Since circRNA is easily detected in peripheral blood and has a high degree of spatiotemporal tissue specificity and stability, these attributes provide us with a new idea to further explore the potential value for the diagnosis and treatment of SZ and DEP. Here, we summarize the classification, characteristics, and biological functions of circRNA and the most significant results of experimental studies, aiming to highlight the involvement of circRNA in SZ and DEP.

Keywords: biological function; circular RNA (circRNA); depression (DEP); epigenetic characteristics; expression; schizophrenia (SZ).

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The overview diagram shows four biosynthetic pathways related to the source of circular RNAs: (1) whole-exonic-type circRNAs (EcircRNA); (2) circRNAs with introns and exons (EIcirRNA); (3) lasso-type circRNAs composed of introns (ciRNA); and (4) circRNAs produced by cyclization of viral RNA genomes, ribosomal RNAs, small-nuclear RNAs, and transfer RNAs (tricRNA).
Figure 2
Figure 2
The overview diagram shows multiple biological functions of circular RNAs.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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