CRCT INSERM, UMR1037, Toulouse, France.
Toulouse III University-Paul Sabatier, UMR1037 INSERM, UMR5071 CNRS, Toulouse, France.
JCI Insight. 2021 Nov 8;6(21):e151513. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.151513.
Circular RNAs (circRNAs) represent a type of endogenous noncoding RNA generated by back-splicing events. Unlike the majority of RNAs, circRNAs are covalently closed, without a 5' end or a 3' poly(A) tail. A few circRNAs can be associated with polysomes, suggesting a protein-coding potential. CircRNAs are not degraded by RNA exonucleases or ribonuclease R and are enriched in exosomes. Recent developments in experimental methods coupled with evolving bioinformatic approaches have accelerated functional investigation of circRNAs, which exhibit a stable structure, a long half-life, and tumor specificity and can be extracted from body fluids and used as potential biological markers for tumors. Moreover, circRNAs may regulate the occurrence and development of cancers and contribute to drug resistance through a variety of molecular mechanisms. Despite the identification of a growing number of circRNAs, their effects in hematological cancers remain largely unknown. Recent studies indicate that circRNAs could also originate from fusion genes (fusion circRNAs, f-circRNAs) next to chromosomal translocations, which are considered the primary cause of various cancers, notably hematological malignancies. This Review will focus on circRNAs and f-circRNAs in hematological cancers.
环状 RNA（circRNAs）是一类由反向剪接事件产生的内源性非编码 RNA。与大多数 RNA 不同，circRNAs 是共价封闭的，没有 5' 端或 3' 多聚（A）尾。少数 circRNAs 可以与多核糖体结合，提示其具有潜在的蛋白质编码能力。circRNAs 不受 RNA 外切酶或核糖核酸酶 R 的降解，并且在 exosomes 中富集。实验方法的最新进展与不断发展的生物信息学方法相结合，加速了 circRNAs 的功能研究，circRNAs 具有稳定的结构、长半衰期和肿瘤特异性，可以从体液中提取并用作肿瘤的潜在生物标志物。此外，circRNAs 可能通过多种分子机制调节癌症的发生和发展，并有助于耐药性。尽管已经鉴定出越来越多的 circRNAs，但它们在血液癌症中的作用在很大程度上仍不清楚。最近的研究表明，circRNAs 也可能来自染色体易位附近的融合基因（融合 circRNAs，f-circRNAs），这些易位被认为是各种癌症的主要原因，尤其是血液恶性肿瘤。本综述将重点关注血液癌症中的 circRNAs 和 f-circRNAs。
