Xu Yayun, Chen Feihu
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, People's Republic of China.
The Key Laboratory of Major Autoimmune Diseases of Anhui Province, Anhui Institute of Innovative Drugs, School of Pharmacy, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, People's Republic of China.
J Inflamm Res. 2021 Mar 30;14:1185-1193. doi: 10.2147/JIR.S302846. eCollection 2021.
Circular RNAs (circRNAs), a new class of endogenous non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), are highly stable and exhibit tissue-specific expression. Accumulating evidence has indicated that circRNAs play crucial roles in the development and progression of multiple diseases. Notably, circRNAs, important epigenetic modulators of gene expression in inflammation and autoimmune regulation, have a close association with the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). RA, one of the most common systemic autoimmune diseases, is characterized by synovial hyperplasia and inflammation, and cartilage and bone destruction. Here, we focus on the roles of circRNAs in macrophage, synovial tissues, fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs), and cartilage tissues in pathogenesis and progression of RA, highlighting the potential of circRNAs in the blood as diagnostic biomarkers, and aiming at providing new insights into the diagnosis and therapy of this disease.
环状RNA（circRNAs）是一类新型的内源性非编码RNA（ncRNAs），具有高度稳定性并呈现组织特异性表达。越来越多的证据表明，circRNAs在多种疾病的发生发展过程中发挥着关键作用。值得注意的是，circRNAs作为炎症和自身免疫调节中基因表达的重要表观遗传调节剂，与类风湿关节炎（RA）的发病机制密切相关。RA是最常见的系统性自身免疫疾病之一，其特征为滑膜增生和炎症以及软骨和骨破坏。在此，我们重点关注circRNAs在巨噬细胞、滑膜组织、成纤维样滑膜细胞（FLSs）和软骨组织中在RA发病机制和进展中的作用，强调血液中circRNAs作为诊断生物标志物的潜力，旨在为该疾病的诊断和治疗提供新的见解。
