Wet Lab Techniques for the Functional Analysis of Circular RNA

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) emerge as alternate regulators of gene expression. CircRNAs are generated by back-splicing processes, are highly conserved, and are resistant to degradation. Recent advances in sequencing and computational tools have led to the discovery of the critical regulatory roles of these molecules in different physiological and pathological processes. Different functions of circRNAs in many physiological processes have been reported in the past few years, such as miRNA sponge activity, protein decoy/sponge/recruiter activity, deviation from parental gene expression, and encoding proteins/peptides. Additionally, circRNAs are being used clinically as biomarkers. Technological advances in molecular biology over the past few years have led to the development of various techniques for detecting, quantifying, manipulating, and analyzing the functions of circRNAs. This article summarizes different wet lab techniques for preparing, detecting, validating, localizing, and interacting with circRNAs, as well as determining miRNA sponge activity and functional analysis.