Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 30, 2025

A Proximal Culture Method to Study Paracrine Signaling Between Cells
Published on: August 28, 2018
Roles of circRNAs in the tumour microenvironment
Qiuge Zhang1,2, Weiwei Wang3, Quanbo Zhou4
1Department of Geriatric Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China.
Abstract:
The tumour microenvironment (TME) constitutes the area surrounding the tumour during its development and has been demonstrated to play roles in cancer-related diseases through crosstalk with tumour cells. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a subpopulation of endogenous noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) that are ubiquitously expressed in eukaryotes and have multiple biological functions in the regulation of cancer onset and progression. An increasing number of studies have shown that circRNAs participate in the multifaceted biological regulation of the TME. However, details on the mechanisms involved have remained elusive until now. In this review, we analyse the effects of circRNAs on the TME from various perspectives, including immune surveillance, angiogenesis, hypoxia, matrix remodelling, exo-circRNAs and chemoradiation resistance. Currently, the enormous potential for circRNA use in targeted therapy and as noninvasive biomarkers have drawn our attention. We emphasize the prospect of targeting circRNAs as an essential strategy to regulate TME, overcome cancer resistance and improve therapeutic outcomes.
Related Concept Videos
The Tumor Microenvironment
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
The mTOR pathway or the...
Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells
Some of the advantages that cancer cells have on normal cells include - enhanced ability to divide without terminally differentiating, induce new blood vessel formation,...
Metastasis
Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition
The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition or EMT is a developmental process commonly observed in wound healing, embryogenesis, and cancer metastasis. EMT is induced by transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) or receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) ligands, which further...
Interactions Between Signaling Pathways
Convergence and divergence, and cross-talk between signaling pathways
Two distinct signaling pathways can converge on a single functional unit, which may either be a single protein or a complex of proteins. The response is either functionally distinct or synergistic between the two pathways but different from the response...
Cancer Stem Cells and Tumor Maintenance
Cancer stem cells are thought to originate from tissue-specific normal stem cells or progenitor cells. The normal stem cells usually reside in...

