Barrett Steven P, Salzman Julia
Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA Stanford Cancer Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
Development. 2016 Jun 1;143(11):1838-47. doi: 10.1242/dev.128074.
Just a few years ago, it had been assumed that the dominant RNA isoforms produced from eukaryotic genes were variants of messenger RNA, functioning as intermediates in gene expression. In early 2012, however, a surprising discovery was made: circular RNA (circRNA) was shown to be a transcriptional product in thousands of human and mouse genes and in hundreds of cases constituted the dominant RNA isoform. Subsequent studies revealed that the expression of circRNAs is developmentally regulated, tissue and cell-type specific, and shared across the eukaryotic tree of life. These features suggest important functions for these molecules. Here, we describe major advances in the field of circRNA biology, focusing on the regulation of and functional roles played by these molecules.
就在几年前，人们还认为真核基因产生的主要RNA异构体是信使RNA的变体，在基因表达中起中间体的作用。然而，在2012年初，人们有了一个惊人的发现：环状RNA（circRNA）被证明是数千个人类和小鼠基因的转录产物，在数百个案例中构成了主要的RNA异构体。随后的研究表明，circRNA的表达受到发育调控，具有组织和细胞类型特异性，并且在整个真核生物生命树中都有分布。这些特征表明这些分子具有重要功能。在这里，我们描述了circRNA生物学领域的主要进展，重点关注这些分子的调控及其发挥的功能作用。
