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Review
. 2021 Nov 24;11(12):1755.
doi: 10.3390/biom11121755.

Circular RNA-Is the Circle Perfect?

Lavinia Caba  1 , Laura Florea  2 , Cristina Gug  3 , Daniela Cristina Dimitriu  4 , Eusebiu Vlad Gorduza  1
Affiliations
Review

Circular RNA-Is the Circle Perfect?

Lavinia Caba et al. Biomolecules. .

Abstract

Circular RNA (circRNA) is a distinct class of non-coding RNA produced, in principle, using a back-splicing mechanism, conserved during evolution, with increased stability and a tissue-dependent expression. Circular RNA represents a functional molecule with roles in the regulation of transcription and splicing, microRNA sponge, and the modulation of protein-protein interaction. CircRNAs are involved in essential processes of life such as apoptosis, cell cycle, and proliferation. Due to the regulatory role (upregulation/downregulation) in pathogenic mechanisms of some diseases (including cancer), its potential roles as a biomarker or therapeutic target in these diseases were studied. This review focuses on the importance of circular RNA in cancer.

Keywords: biomarker; cancer; circular RNA.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Biogenesis of ecircRNAs and EIciRNAs. I: Back-splicing—the splice donor binds covalently to splice acceptor; II: RNA-binding-protein-driven circularisation; III: Intron-pairing driven circularisation based on intronic ALU repeats. Adapted from “circRNA in Cancer”, by BioRender.com (2021). Retrieved from: https://app.biorender.com/biorender-templates (accessed on 18 November 2021). (sd—splice donor; sa—splice acceptor; RNAB—RNA binding protein; red bars—ALU repeats).
Figure 2
Figure 2
CircRNA functions and involvement in cellular processes. Created with BioRender.com.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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