Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 21, 2025

Identification of Circular RNAs using RNA Sequencing
Published on: November 14, 2019
Unlocking the potential of circular RNA vaccines: a bioinformatics and computational biology perspective
Xuyuan Liu1, Siqi Wang1, Yunan Sun1
1Department of Biomedical Informatics, School of Basic Medical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Vascular Homeostasis and Remodeling, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China.
Abstract:
Bioinformatics has significantly advanced RNA-based therapeutics, particularly circular RNAs (circRNAs), which outperform mRNA vaccines, by offering superior stability, sustained expression, and enhanced immunogenicity due to their covalently closed structure. This review highlights how bioinformatics and computational biology optimise circRNA vaccine design, elucidates internal ribosome entry sites (IRES) selection, open reading frame (ORF) optimisation, codon usage, RNA secondary structure prediction, and delivery system development. While circRNA vaccines may not always surpass traditional vaccines in stability, their production efficiency and therapeutic efficacy can be enhanced through computational strategies. The discussion also addresses challenges and future prospects, emphasizing the need for innovative solutions to overcome current limitations and advance circRNA vaccine applications.
Related Concept Videos
Leaky Scanning
RNA-seq
Before the discovery of RNA-seq, microarray-based methods and Sanger sequencing were used for transcriptome analysis. However, while...
Ribosome Profiling
Applications of ribosome profiling
Ribosome profiling has many applications, including in vivo monitoring of translation inside a particular organ or tissue type and quantifying new protein synthesis levels.
The technique...
Experimental RNAi
RNA Interference
This process occurs naturally in cells, often through the activity of genomically-encoded microRNAs. Researchers can take advantage of this mechanism by introducing synthetic RNAs to deactivate specific genes for research or therapeutic purposes. For example, RNAi could be used...

