Department of Biology and Biotechnology Charles Darwin, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy.
Institute of Molecular Biology and Pathology, National Research Council, 00185 Rome, Italy.
Cells. 2020 Jul 31;9(8):1815. doi: 10.3390/cells9081815.
High-throughput transcriptomic profiling approaches have revealed that circular RNAs (circRNAs) are important transcriptional gene products, identified across a broad range of organisms throughout the eukaryotic tree of life. In the nervous system, they are particularly abundant, developmentally regulated, region-specific, and enriched in genes for neuronal proteins and synaptic factors. These features suggested that circRNAs are key components of an important layer of neuronal gene expression regulation, with known and anticipated functions. Here, we review major recognized aspects of circRNA biogenesis, metabolism and biological activities, examining potential new functions in the context of the nervous system.
高通量转录组谱分析方法表明，环状 RNA（circRNAs）是一种重要的转录基因产物，在真核生物的生命树中广泛存在于各种生物体中。在神经系统中，circRNAs 特别丰富，其表达受到发育调控，具有组织特异性，并富含神经元蛋白和突触因子的基因。这些特征表明，circRNAs 是神经元基因表达调控的重要组成部分，具有已知和预期的功能。在这里，我们回顾了 circRNA 生物发生、代谢和生物学活性的主要公认方面，研究了其在神经系统中的潜在新功能。
