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Review
. 2020 Aug 17;19(1):127.
doi: 10.1186/s12943-020-01240-3.

CircRNAs in anticancer drug resistance: recent advances and future potential

Tianwei Xu  1 , Mengwei Wang  1 , Lihua Jiang  1 , Li Ma  1 , Li Wan  2 , Qinnan Chen  1 , Chenchen Wei  3 , Zhaoxia Wang  4
Affiliations
Review

CircRNAs in anticancer drug resistance: recent advances and future potential

Tianwei Xu et al. Mol Cancer. .

Abstract

CircRNAs are a novel class of RNA molecules with a unique closed continuous loop structure. CircRNAs are abundant in eukaryotic cells, have unique stability and tissue specificity, and can play a biological regulatory role at various levels, such as transcriptional and posttranscriptional levels. Numerous studies have indicated that circRNAs serve a crucial purpose in cancer biology. CircRNAs regulate tumor behavioral phenotypes such as proliferation and migration through various molecular mechanisms, such as miRNA sponging, transcriptional regulation, and protein interaction. Recently, several reports have demonstrated that they are also deeply involved in resistance to anticancer drugs, from traditional chemotherapeutic drugs to targeted and immunotherapeutic drugs. This review is the first to summarize the latest research on circRNAs in anticancer drug resistance based on drug classification and to discuss their potential clinical applications.

Keywords: Cancer; Circular RNA; Drug; Resistance.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Biogenesis of circRNAs. a Classification of circRNAs. CircRNAs can be divided into ecircRNAs, EIciRNAs and ciRNAs by their composition. b Functions of circRNAs. CircRNAs can regulate gene transcription as their parental genes do in the nucleus. CircRNAs can act as miRNA sponges, interact with proteins as protein scaffolds or decoys and, under certain circumstances, be translated in the cytoplasm
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
RNA sequencing and microarray analyses are effective methods to screen novel anticancer drug resistance-related circRNAs
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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