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Updated: Jul 4, 2026
08:25
Identification of Circular RNAs using RNA Sequencing
Published on: November 14, 2019
Recent advances in the detection and functional analysis of circRNAs with short-read RNA sequencing-based methods
Grace Lindner1, Si-Mei Xu1, Kristina Santucci1
1School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
Molecular Biology Reports
|July 3, 2026
Summary
Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are stable regulatory molecules. Recent bioinformatics tools enhance their detection, annotation, and identification of protein-coding potential from RNA-sequencing data.
Area of Science:
- Molecular Biology
- Bioinformatics
- Genomics
Background:
- Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are covalently closed RNA molecules, initially overlooked but now recognized for regulatory roles.
- Their stable, closed-loop structure makes them resistant to degradation and valuable as potential biomarkers.
- circRNAs are involved in microRNA sponging, RNA-protein interactions, and cellular pathways.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review recent bioinformatics tools for circRNA detection and analysis using RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) data.
- To focus on advances in the past five years for identifying translatable circRNAs.
- To summarize tools for circRNA detection, consensus calling, annotation, and protein-coding potential prediction.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) data for circRNA identification.
- Employing bioinformatics tools for automated detection of back-spliced junctions.
- Integrating machine learning and deep learning approaches for predicting protein-coding potential.
Main Results:
- Numerous bioinformatics tools have been developed for circRNA detection and analysis.
- Combined usage of circRNA callers improves sensitivity and specificity for high-confidence datasets.
- New tools can assess protein-coding potential of circRNAs, including translation mechanisms.
Conclusions:
- circRNAs are significant regulatory RNAs with potential as biomarkers.
- Advances in bioinformatics tools facilitate high-confidence circRNA detection and annotation.
- Emerging tools aid in identifying circRNAs with protein-coding potential, expanding their functional understanding.
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