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Circular RNA: A New Member of Competing Endogenous RNAs
Xia Tian, Jiang Xiaoming, Chen Xiaomin, Shao Yongfu, Xiao Bingxiu*, Guo Junming*
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Ningbo University School of Medicine,Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Pathophysiology, Ningbo 315211, China
Abstract: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are broadly found in various species’ cells. They have several characteristics including structural stability， high expression and expression in a tissue-specific manner. Recent studies have demonstrated that several circRNAs regulate gene expression acting as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs). circRNAs sequester microRNAs (miRNAs) to terminate suppression of their targets and modulate the expression level of other related RNA molecules， which share the same miRNA response elements (MREs). The findings of circRNAs’ function in gene expression not only expand our understanding about ceRNA regulation network， but also indicate that circRNAs might be developed as potential drugs and used in disease diagnosis and treatment.
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