scholarly journals CircRNAs and their regulatory roles in cancers

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mei Tao ◽  
Ming Zheng ◽  
Yanhua Xu ◽  
Shuo Ma ◽  
Weiwei Zhang ◽  
...  

AbstractCircular RNAs (circRNAs), a novel type of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), have a covalently closed circular structure resulting from pre-mRNA back splicing via spliceosome and ribozymes. They can be classified differently in accordance with different criteria. As circRNAs are abundant, conserved, and stable, they can be used as diagnostic markers in various diseases and targets to develop new therapies. There are various functions of circRNAs, including sponge for miR/proteins, role of scaffolds, templates for translation, and regulators of mRNA translation and stability. Without m7G cap and poly-A tail, circRNAs can still be degraded in several ways, including RNase L, Ago-dependent, and Ago-independent degradation. Increasing evidence indicates that circRNAs can be modified by N-6 methylation (m6A) in many aspects such as biogenesis, nuclear export, translation, and degradation. In addition, they have been proved to play a regulatory role in the progression of various cancers. Recently, methods of detecting circRNAs with high sensitivity and specificity have also been reported. This review presents a detailed overview of circRNAs regarding biogenesis, biomarker, functions, degradation, and dynamic modification as well as their regulatory roles in various cancers. It’s particularly summarized in detail in the biogenesis of circRNAs, regulation of circRNAs by m6A modification and mechanisms by which circRNAs affect tumor progression respectively. Moreover, existing circRNA detection methods and their characteristics are also mentioned.

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-17
Author(s):  
William Alexander Setiawan ◽  
A.A. Gde Marvy Khrisna Pranamartha

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are non-coding RNAs with a covalently closed circular structure that present in a variety of organisms. The circRNAs are more stable and durable than linear RNAs due to incompatibility with the RNases. Recent studies have shown that circRNAs are expressed differently at the mother-fetal interface of women with preeclampsia compared to women with normal pregnancy. Although the evidence showed that circRNAs mediate various pathological processes in pregnancy, the mechanism of action is still unclear. In this paper, we provide a highlight of the current state of knowledge about circRNAs, its relation to preeclampsia, and the potential applications as preeclampsia biomarkers.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiabin Yu ◽  
Li Yang ◽  
Hongting Lu

AbstractMalignant tumors are one of the fatal diseases that threaten children’s physical and mental health and affect their development. Research has shown that the occurrence and development of malignant tumors are associated with the abnormal expression and regulation of genes. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are noncoding RNAs that have a closed circular structure, with a relatively stable expression, and do not undergo exonuclease-mediated degradation readily. Recent studies have shown that circRNA plays an important role in the occurrence, metastasis, and invasion of solid malignant tumors (SMTs) in children. Thus, circRNA is being considered as a breakthrough in the treatment of SMTs in children. In this review, we describe the functions and mechanisms of circRNAs involved in SMTs in children oncogenesis, and summarize the roles of circRNAs in regulating cell proliferation, cell apoptotic death, the cell cycle, cell migrative and invasive ability, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), cancer stem cells and drug resistance in SMTs in children. In addition, we also discuss the role of circRNAs in the early diagnosis, pathological grading, targeted therapy, and prognosis evaluation of common SMTs in children. CircRNAs are likely to provide a novel direction in therapy in SMTs of children.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 2904
Author(s):  
Peiyu Zhu ◽  
Shuaiyin Chen ◽  
Weiguo Zhang ◽  
Guangcai Duan ◽  
Yuefei Jin

Enteroviruses (EVs) are common RNA viruses that can cause various types of human diseases and conditions such as hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD), myocarditis, meningitis, sepsis, and respiratory disorders. Although EV infections in most patients are generally mild and self-limiting, a small number of young children can develop serious complications such as encephalitis, acute flaccid paralysis, myocarditis, and cardiorespiratory failure, resulting in fatalities. Established evidence has suggested that certain non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) such as microRNAs (miRNAs), long ncRNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs) are involved in the occurrence and progression of many human diseases. Recently, the involvement of ncRNAs in the course of EV infection has been reported. Herein, the authors focus on recent advances in the understanding of ncRNAs in EV infection from basic viral pathogenesis to clinical prospects, providing a reference basis and new ideas for disease prevention and research directions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shihu Jiao ◽  
Song Wu ◽  
Shan Huang ◽  
Mingyang Liu ◽  
Bo Gao

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a class of endogenous non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) with a closed-loop structure that are mainly produced by variable processing of precursor mRNAs (pre-mRNAs). They are widely present in all eukaryotes and are very stable. Currently, circRNA studies have become a hotspot in RNA research. It has been reported that circRNAs constitute a significant proportion of transcript expression, and some are significantly more abundantly expressed than other transcripts. CircRNAs have regulatory roles in gene expression and critical biological functions in the development of organisms, such as acting as microRNA sponges or as endogenous RNAs and biomarkers. As such, they may have useful functions in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. CircRNAs have been found to play an important role in the development of several diseases, including atherosclerosis, neurological disorders, diabetes, and cancer. In this paper, we review the status of circRNA research, describe circRNA-related databases and the identification of circRNAs, discuss the role of circRNAs in human diseases such as colon cancer, atherosclerosis, and gastric cancer, and identify remaining research questions related to circRNAs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 244 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xue Gong ◽  
Gengze Wu ◽  
Chunyu Zeng

Over the last several decades, cardiovascular diseases largely increase the morbidity and mortality especially in developed countries, affecting millions of people worldwide. Although extensive work over the last two decades attempted to decipher the molecular network of regulating the pathogenesis and progression of these diseases, evidences from clinical trials with newly revealed targets failed to show more evidently salutary effects, indicating the inefficiency of understanding the complete regulatory landscape. Recent studies have shifted their focus from coding genes to the non-coding ones, which consist of microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and the lately re-discovered a unique group of RNAs—circular RNAs (circRNAs). As the focus now has been shifted to the newly identified group of non-coding RNAs, circRNAs exhibit stability, highly conservation and relative enriched expression abundance in some cases, which are distinct from their cognate linear counterparts—lncRNAs. So far, emerging evidence begins to support the critical role of circRNAs in organogenesis and pathogenesis as exemplified in the central nervous system, and could be just as implicative in the cardiovascular system, suggesting a therapeutic perspective in related diseases. Impact statement Circular RNAs are important regulators of multiple biological processes such as organogenesis and oncogenesis. Although the bulk of concerning studies focused on revealing their diversified roles in various types of cancers, reports began to accumulate in cardiovascular field these days. We summarize circular RNAs implicated in cardiovascular diseases, aiming to highlight the advances in the knowledge of such diseases and their potential of being promising target for diagnosis and therapy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinyao Hu ◽  
Hua Zhu ◽  
Yang Shen ◽  
Xiaoyu Zhang ◽  
Xiaoqin He ◽  
...  

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second most common cause of cancer-related death. Sorafenib is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to be a first-line chemotherapy agent for patients with advanced HCC. A portion of advanced HCC patients can benefit from the treatment with sorafenib, but many patients ultimately develop sorafenib resistance, leading to a poor prognosis. The molecular mechanisms of sorafenib resistance are sophisticated and indefinite. Notably, non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), which include long ncRNAs (lncRNAs), microRNAs (miRNAs) and circular RNAs (circRNAs), are critically participated in the occurrence and progression of tumors. Moreover, growing evidence has suggested that ncRNAs are crucial regulators in the development of resistance to sorafenib. Herein, we integrally and systematically summarized the molecular mechanisms and vital role of ncRNAs impact sorafenib resistance of HCC, and ultimately explored the potential clinical administrations of ncRNAs as new prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for HCC.


MicroRNA ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ling Lin ◽  
Kebin Hu

: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs (19~25 nucleotides) that regulate gene expression at a post-transcriptional level through repression of mRNA translation or mRNA decay. miR-147, which was initially discovered in mouse spleen and macrophages, has been shown to correlate with coronary atherogenesis and inflammatory bowel disease and modulate macrophage functions and inflammation through TLR-4. The altered miR-147 level has been shown in various human diseases, including infectious disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease, a neurodegenerative disorder, etc. This review will focus on the current understanding regarding the role of miR-147 in inflammation and diseases.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (23) ◽  
pp. 5987
Author(s):  
Soudeh Ghafouri-Fard ◽  
Atefe Abak ◽  
Bashdar Mahmud Hussen ◽  
Mohammad Taheri ◽  
Guive Sharifi

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), microRNAs (miRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs) are non-coding transcripts which are involved in the pathogenesis of pituitary gland tumors. LncRNAs that participate in the pathogenesis of pituitary gland tumors mainly serve as sponges for miRNAs. CLRN1-AS1/miR-217, XIST/miR-424-5p, H19/miR-93a, LINC00473/miR-502-3p, SNHG7/miR-449a, MEG8/miR-454-3p, MEG3/miR-23b-3p, MEG3/miR-376B-3P, SNHG6/miR-944, PCAT6/miR-139-3p, lncRNA-m433s1/miR-433, TUG1/miR-187-3p, SNHG1/miR-187-3p, SNHG1/miR-302, SNHG1/miR-372, SNHG1/miR-373, and SNHG1/miR-520 are identified lncRNA/miRNA pairs that are involved in this process. Hsa_circ_0001368 and circOMA1 are two examples of circRNAs that contribute to the pathogenesis of pituitary gland tumors. Meanwhile, SNHG1, LINC00702, LINC00460, and MEG3 have been found to partake in the pathogenesis of meningioma. In the current review, we describe the role of non-coding RNAs in two types of brain tumors, i.e., pituitary tumors and meningioma.


Author(s):  
Sabrina Carrella ◽  
Sandro Banfi ◽  
Marianthi Karali

Photoreceptors (PRs) are specialized neuroepithelial cells of the retina responsible for sensory transduction of light stimuli. In the highly structured vertebrate retina, PRs have a highly polarized modular structure to accommodate the demanding processes of phototransduction and the visual cycle. Because of their function, PRs are exposed to continuous cellular stress. PRs are therefore under pressure to maintain their function in defiance of constant environmental perturbation, besides being part of a highly sophisticated developmental process. All this translates into the need for tightly regulated and responsive molecular mechanisms that can reinforce transcriptional programs. It is commonly accepted that regulatory non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), and in particular microRNAs (miRNAs), are not only involved but indeed central in conferring robustness and accuracy to developmental and physiological processes. Here we integrate recent findings on the role of regulatory ncRNAs (e.g., miRNAs, lncRNAs, circular RNAs, and antisense RNAs), and of their contribution to PR pathophysiology. We also outline the therapeutic implications of translational studies that harness ncRNAs to prevent PR degeneration and promote their survival and function.


Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 3264
Author(s):  
Hossein Tabatabaeian ◽  
Samantha Peiling Yang ◽  
Yvonne Tay

Thyroid cancer is the most prevalent malignancy of the endocrine system and the ninth most common cancer globally. Despite the advances in the management of thyroid cancer, there are critical issues with the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid cancer that result in the poor overall survival of undifferentiated and metastatic thyroid cancer patients. Recent studies have revealed the role of different non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), such as microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and circular RNAs (circRNAs) that are dysregulated during thyroid cancer development or the acquisition of resistance to therapeutics, and may play key roles in treatment failure and poor prognosis of the thyroid cancer patients. Here, we systematically review the emerging roles and molecular mechanisms of ncRNAs that regulate thyroid tumorigenesis and drug response. We then propose the potential clinical implications of ncRNAs as novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for thyroid cancer.


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