Research advancements on the role of CircRNAs in cartilage injury within osteoarthritis

The main causes of articular cartilage injury (ACI) encompass inflammation, trauma, chronic strain, degeneration, and so forth. ACI is one of the main pathological features of degenerative joint diseases such as osteoarthritis (OA), which significantly affects patients' normal work and life. Due to the absence of nerves, blood vessels, and lymphatic tissue in the cartilage, it is challenging for it to repair itself after injury.​ Non-coding RNAs, as crucial regulators of gene expression, have been increasingly implicated in the pathophysiology of various diseases. Among them, circular RNAs(circRNAs), as a new type of endogenous special non-coding RNAs, have been extensively discovered in eukaryotic cells. Owing to their unique closed-loop structure and potentially stable expression characteristics, circRNAs have demonstrated significant regulatory roles in the occurrence and development of various diseases. circRNAs are differentially expressed in OA chondrocytes and normal chondrocytes, and are involved in the inflammatory response, proliferation, apoptosis, and other processes of chondrocytes and the extracellular matrix (ECM). This article aims to review the recent research progress of circRNAs in ACI and explore their potential role in the pathogenesis of OA.