Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Xi'an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi'an, 710061, PR China.
Epigenomics. 2019 Jul;11(9):1107-1116. doi: 10.2217/epi-2019-0001. Epub 2019 Jun 26.
Fibrosis is the excess deposition of extracellular matrix components which ultimately leads to the disruption of organ architecture and loss of function. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a newly discovered type of long noncoding RNAs with single-stranded covalently closed loops. It is known that circRNAs are novel regulators of gene expression via various ways, including miRNA sponge, protein sponge, regulation of transcription and post transcription. Recently, a growing body of evidence suggests that circular RNAs are also involved in tissue fibrosis in several organs. In this review, we summarized current studies of circular RNAs in fibrosis and hopefully aid in better understanding the molecular mechanism of fibrosis and provide a basis to explore new therapeutic targets of fibrosis.
纤维化是细胞外基质成分的过度沉积，最终导致器官结构破坏和功能丧失。环状 RNA（circRNA）是一种新发现的长非编码 RNA，具有单链共价封闭环。已知 circRNA 通过多种方式（包括 miRNA 海绵、蛋白海绵、转录和转录后调控）作为基因表达的新型调节剂。最近，越来越多的证据表明，环状 RNA 也参与了几个器官的组织纤维化。在这篇综述中，我们总结了环状 RNA 在纤维化中的研究现状，希望有助于更好地理解纤维化的分子机制，并为探索纤维化的新治疗靶点提供依据。
