Sun Handong, Wu Zijuan, Liu Ming, Yu Liang, Li Jianyong, Zhang Jinwen, Ding Xiangming, Jin Hui
Department of Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu Province Hospital, Nanjing, China.
Front Genet. 2021 Feb 19;12:633750. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2021.633750. eCollection 2021.
Circular RNA (circRNA) is a novel regulatory non-coding RNA and participates in diverse physiological and pathological processes. However, the structures and molecular mechanisms of circRNAs remain unclear. In this study, taking advantage of openly databases and bioinformatics analysis, we observed lots of internal complementary base-pairing sequences (ICBPS) existed in plenty of circRNAs, especially in extremely long circRNAs (el-circRNAs, > 5,000 nt). The result indicated that circRNA may not be a simple circular structure. In addition, we put forward the hypothesis of "open-close effect" in the transition for specific circRNA from normal state to morbid state. Taken together, our results not only expand the knowledge of circRNAs, but also highlight the potential molecular mechanism of circRNAs.
环状RNA（circRNA）是一种新型的调控性非编码RNA，参与多种生理和病理过程。然而，circRNA的结构和分子机制仍不清楚。在本研究中，利用公开数据库和生物信息学分析，我们观察到许多circRNA中存在大量内部互补碱基配对序列（ICBPS），尤其是在极长的circRNA（el-circRNA，>5000 nt）中。结果表明，circRNA可能不是简单的环状结构。此外，我们提出了特定circRNA从正常状态转变为病态过程中的“开闭效应”假说。综上所述，我们的结果不仅扩展了对circRNA的认识，还突出了circRNA潜在的分子机制。
