Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 100 Haining Road, Hongkou District, Shanghai, 200080, China.
Department of Education, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 650 Xinsongjiang Road, Songjiang District, Shanghai, 201600, China.
J Transl Med. 2024 Aug 10;22(1):752. doi: 10.1186/s12967-024-05562-4.
Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a class of endogenous noncoding RNAs characterized by their lack of 5' caps and 3' poly(A) tails. These molecules have garnered substantial attention from the scientific community. A wide range of circRNA types has been found to be expressed in various tissues of the human body, exhibiting unique characteristics such as high abundance, remarkable stability, and tissue-specific expression patterns. These attributes, along with their detectability in liquid biopsy samples such as plasma, position circRNAs an ideal choice as cancer diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. Additionally, several studies have reported that the functions of circRNAs are associated with tumor proliferation, metastasis, and drug resistance. They achieve this through various mechanisms, including modulation of parental gene expression, regulation of gene transcription, acting as microRNA (miRNA) sponges, and encoding functional proteins. In recent years, a large number of studies have focused on synthesizing circRNAs in vitro and delivering them to tumor tissue to exert its effects in inhibit tumor progression. Herein, we briefly discuss the biogenesis, characteristics, functions, and detection of circRNAs, emphasizing their clinical potential as biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and prognosis. We also provide an overview the recent techniques for synthesizing circRNAs and delivery strategies, and outline the application of engineered circRNAs in clinical cancer therapy.
环状 RNA（circRNAs）是一类缺乏 5' 帽和 3' 多聚 A 尾的内源性非编码 RNA。这些分子受到科学界的广泛关注。研究发现，广泛的 circRNA 类型在人体的各种组织中表达，具有高丰度、显著稳定性和组织特异性表达模式等独特特征。这些特性，以及它们在血浆等液体活检样本中的可检测性，使 circRNAs 成为癌症诊断和预后生物标志物的理想选择。此外，一些研究报道 circRNAs 的功能与肿瘤增殖、转移和耐药性有关。它们通过多种机制实现这一点，包括调节亲本基因表达、调控基因转录、作为 microRNA（miRNA）海绵和编码功能性蛋白质。近年来，大量研究集中在体外合成 circRNAs 并将其递送到肿瘤组织中，以发挥抑制肿瘤进展的作用。本文简要讨论了 circRNAs 的生物发生、特征、功能和检测，强调了它们作为癌症诊断和预后生物标志物的临床潜力。我们还概述了合成 circRNAs 的最新技术和递送策略，并概述了工程化 circRNAs 在临床癌症治疗中的应用。
