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Updated: Jul 30, 2025

Identification of Circular RNAs using RNA Sequencing
Published on: November 14, 2019
Circular RNAs with protein-coding ability in oncogenesis
Jiahui Cheng1, Guangyue Li1, Wenmeng Wang1
1College of Life Science, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China.
Abstract:
As ubiquitously expressed transcripts in eukaryotes, circular RNAs (circRNAs) are covalently closed and lack a 5'-cap and 3'-polyadenylation (poly (A)) tail. Initially, circRNAs were considered non-coding RNA (ncRNA), and their roles as sponging molecules to adsorb microRNAs have been extensively reported. However, in recent years, accumulating evidence has demonstrated that circRNAs could encode functional polypeptides through the initiation of translation mediated by internal ribosomal entry sites (IRESs) or N6-methyladenosine (m6A). In this review, we collectively discuss the biogenesis, cognate mRNA products, regulatory mechanisms, aberrant expression and biological phenotypes or clinical relevance of all currently reported, cancer-relevant protein-coding circRNAs. Overall, we provide a comprehensive overview of circRNA-encoded proteins and their physiological and pathological functions.
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