National Vaccine & Serum Institute (NVSI), China National Biotech Group (CNBG), No. 38 Jing Hai Second Road, Beijing, 101111, China.
Int J Med Sci. 2022 May 27;19(6):975-985. doi: 10.7150/ijms.71840. eCollection 2022.
Circular RNA (circRNA) is a novel endogenous non-coding RNA (ncRNA) that, like microRNA (miRNA), is a rapidly emerging RNA research topic. CircRNA, unlike traditional linear RNAs (which have 5' and 3' ends), has a closed-loop structure that is unaffected by RNA exonucleases. Thus, circRNA has sustained expression and is less sensitive to degradation. Since circRNAs have many miRNAs binding sites, eliminating their repressive effects on their target genes can strongly enhance their expression. CircRNAs serve an important regulatory role in disease onset and progression via specific circRNA-miRNA interactions. We summarized the current progress in elucidating mechanisms and biogenesis of circRNAs in this review. In particular, circRNAs can function mainly as miRNA sponges, regulating host gene expression and protein transportation. Finally, we discussed the application prospects and significant challenges for the development of circRNA-based therapeutics.
环状 RNA（circRNA）是一种新型的内源性非编码 RNA（ncRNA），与 microRNA（miRNA）一样，是一个迅速崛起的 RNA 研究领域。circRNA 与传统的线性 RNA（具有 5' 和 3' 末端）不同，它具有封闭的环结构，不受 RNA 外切酶的影响。因此，circRNA 的表达持续稳定，不易降解。由于 circRNAs 有许多 miRNA 结合位点，消除它们对靶基因的抑制作用可以强烈增强它们的表达。circRNAs 通过特定的 circRNA-miRNA 相互作用，在疾病的发生和发展中发挥重要的调节作用。我们在本文中总结了阐明 circRNAs 机制和生物发生的最新进展。特别是，circRNAs 可以作为 miRNA 的海绵发挥主要作用，调节宿主基因的表达和蛋白质运输。最后，我们讨论了基于 circRNA 的治疗方法的应用前景和重大挑战。
