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Identification of Circular RNAs using RNA Sequencing
08:25

Identification of Circular RNAs using RNA Sequencing

Published on: November 14, 2019

12.5K

Circular RNAs in Human Cancer

Xiong Wang1, Huijun Li1, Yanjun Lu1

  • 1Department of Laboratory Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.

Frontiers in Oncology
|February 4, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are stable RNA molecules involved in various biological processes and cancer. This review explores their diverse functions in cancer, including miRNA sponging and protein interactions.

Area of Science:

  • Molecular Biology
  • Genomics
  • Cancer Research

Background:

  • Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are covalently closed RNA molecules formed by back-splicing.
  • They are stable, conserved, and exhibit tissue-specific expression patterns.
  • circRNAs play critical roles in both normal physiology and cancer biology.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the current understanding of circRNA functions in human cancers.
  • To highlight circRNAs' roles as miRNA sponges, in protein interactions, and as templates for protein translation.
  • To summarize available databases for circRNA annotation and functional prediction.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of circRNA research in cancer.
  • Analysis of deep sequencing and bioinformatics data.
  • Survey of databases for circRNA annotation and functional prediction.

Main Results:

  • circRNAs exhibit diverse functions including miRNA/protein sponging, scaffolding, and translation.
  • These functions contribute to the pathogenesis of various human cancers.
  • Numerous circRNAs are implicated in regulating transcription, splicing, translation, and protein degradation.

Conclusions:

  • circRNAs are key regulators in cancer development and progression.
  • Understanding circRNA functions is crucial for cancer research and therapeutic strategies.
  • circRNA databases aid in annotation and functional exploration for cancer studies.
Keywords:
circRNAmiRNApeptidetranscriptiontranslation

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