Newly discovered circRNAs encoding proteins: recent progress
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Updated: Jul 13, 2025

Identification of Circular RNAs using RNA Sequencing
Published on: November 14, 2019
Xiaotong Shi1,2, Shiyu Liao2, Zhiguo Bi2
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Beijing Chao-yang Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
Abstract:
Circular RNA (circRNA) is a special class of noncoding RNA molecules and the latest research hotspot in the field of RNA. CircRNA molecules have a closed loop structure, which is not affected by RNA exonuclease and has the characteristics of more stable expression. Previous studies have shown that circRNA molecules are rich in microRNA (miRNA) binding sites and act as miRNA sponges in cells. By interacting with miRNAs associated with tumors and other diseases, circRNAs play an important regulatory role. However, circRNAs have recently been found to have small open reading frames that enable them to encode peptides/proteins. These proteins have been reported to play an important role in the mechanism of regulation of a variety of diseases and have great potential in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. In this review, we summarize the mechanism of action of the newly discovered circRNA-coding proteins since 2022 and briefly describe their research process. In addition, we also discuss the prediction model of the functional sites and encoded proteins of circRNAs, which provides a potential idea for future research on circRNAs.
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