Target site selection and P1 engineering enable highly efficient circular RNA production via end-to-end...

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are more stable than linear RNAs, enabling expanding applications in RNA vaccines and therapeutics. We previously developed an in vitro circRNA preparation method based on end-to-end self-targeting and splicing (STS) using the Tetrahymena group I intron, which generates circRNAs without extraneous sequences. However, self-circularization efficiency declines as gene of interest (GOI) length increases, limiting its application to longer GOIs. Here, we systematically optimized key determinants of STS efficiency, including target site selection and P1 construct engineering. Target site screening revealed that selection of optimal target sites within each GOI markedly improved self-circularization efficiency. Moreover, engineering of the P1 construct, including incorporation of a polyA10 sequence upstream of the internal guide sequence of the intron and an antisense sequence complementary to the target site and its upstream region at the 5' side of polyA10, further enhanced efficiency. Notably, the optimized STS strategy achieved up to two-fold higher self-circularization efficiency than the conventional permuted intron-exon (PIE) method for long GOIs (∼8 K-nt). Collectively, these results establish an improved STS workflow for efficient circRNA production without extraneous sequences across a wide range of GOI lengths, outperforming the PIE method for long GOIs, and broadening biomedical applications.