CircRNA: as a disease marker potential and research strategy
Circular RNA (CircRNA) is an endogenous noncoding RNA with covalently closed cyclic structure. It is divided into exonic circRNA, intronic circRNA and exon-intron circRNA, based on their components. CircRNAs are well conserved in sequence and abundantly expressed in a tissue specific manner. They have a high stability due to resistance to exonuclease. Depends on their sequence, they perform many biological function including microRNA sponging activity, modulation of alternative splicing or transcription, interaction with RNA binding proteins, rolling translation and derivative of pseudogenes. They are involved in the development of a variety pathological condition including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, neurological diseases and cancer. Emerging evidences show that circRNA are likely to be potential targets for new clinical diagnostic markers or treatment of many diseases. In this review, we have described the potential relationship between circRNA and disease progression, methods and databases of cyclic RNA.