Circular RNA participates in the carcinogenesis and the malignant behavior of cancer

Abstract

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are long, non-coding RNAs that result from the non-canonical splicing of linear premRNAs. However, the characteristics and the critical role of circRNA in co-/post-transcriptional regulation were not well recognized until the "microRNA sponge" function of circRNA is discovered. Recent studies have mainly been devoted to the function of the circular RNA sponge for miR-7 (ciRS-7) and sex-determining region Y (SRY) by targeting microRNA-7 (miR-7) and microRNA-138 (miR-138), respectively. In this review, we illustrate the specific role of circRNAs in a wide variety of cancers and in regulating the biological behavior of cancers via miR-7 or miR-138 regulation. Furthermore, circRNA, together with its gene silencing ability, also shows its potential in RNA interference (RNAi) therapy by binding to target RNAs, which provides a novel perspective in cancer treatment. Thus, this review concerns the biogenesis, biological function, oncogenesis, progression and possible therapies for cancer involving circRNAs.

Profiles and Bioinformatics Analysis of Differentially Expressed Circrnas in Taxol-Resistant Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells

“…In aggregate, the mechanisms by which circRNAs modulate gene expression are intricate and variable. Moreover, the alteration of circRNA expression levels is common in response to stimuli, thereby influencing the biological behaviors of diseases [27]. There is a long way to go to characterize the landscape of circRNAs in biological processes.…”

Microarray Profiling of Circular RNA Identifies hsa_circ_0126991 as a Potential Risk Factor for Essential Hypertension

“…CircRNAs are single-stranded and covalently closed circular molecules derived from exon and intron transcription [Memczak et al, 2013;Ye et al, 2015]. The majority of circRNAs form circularization structures through a nonlinear back splice reaction concatenating a donor splicing site to an acceptor splicing site [Memczak et al, 2013[Memczak et al, , 2015Song et al, 2016;Xin et al, 2017;Zhao and Shen, 2017]. During the past several years, multiple studies have shown that circRNAs hold the potential as novel biomarker for disease diagnosis, progression, and prognosis, and it has also been illustrated that circRNAs could exert biological functions through interaction with miRNA.…”

Crosstalk between the Notch signaling pathway and non‑coding RNAs in gastrointestinal cancers (Review)

“…Despite the limited recognition of the functional mechanisms of circRNAs in the progression of tumors, circRNAs may act as miRNA 'spongeʼ. For instance, ciRS-7 was demonstrated to bind miR-7 specifically to prevent the partial biological function of the latter, including regulating epidermal growth factor receptor signaling in tumor cells (91,92). Similarly, in another circRNA sex-determining region Y (SRY), functions by controlling the expression level of miR-138 and inhibits its biological effects, mainly including the enhancement of proliferation, migration and invasion in tumor cells (92).…”

“…For instance, ciRS-7 was demonstrated to bind miR-7 specifically to prevent the partial biological function of the latter, including regulating epidermal growth factor receptor signaling in tumor cells (91,92). Similarly, in another circRNA sex-determining region Y (SRY), functions by controlling the expression level of miR-138 and inhibits its biological effects, mainly including the enhancement of proliferation, migration and invasion in tumor cells (92). Previously, a novel circRNA, circHIPK3, was reported to be significantly upregulated in HCC compared with corresponding normal tissues and promoted HCC cell proliferation (93).…”

“…Additionally, circ001569 has been demonstrated to be upregulated in colorectal cancer tissues, and may promote colorectal cancer cell proliferation and invasion by regulating miR-145 and its targets (94). CircRNAs are not only associated with cancer-related miRNAs, but also regulate cancer-associated pathways (92). Since miRNAs participate in various signaling pathways to exert an effect on the fate of tumor cells, there is the potential that circRNA-miRNAs may also contribute to this function.…”