Role of exosomal circular RNAs as microRNA sponges and potential targeting for suppressing hepatocellular carcinoma growth and progression

Figure 2 Role of circular RNA as “microRNA sponge”. After the active microRNA (miRNA) strand (leading strand/mature miRNA) is loaded on the RISC complex, the so-called miRISC (seed sequence), which is capable of binding on a target mRNA strand, leads in the suppression of mRNA translation, silencing, or even degradation. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are non-coding RNA molecules that have a pivotal contribution to gene expression, as they can protect mRNA translation from miRNAs, via miRNA sponging, interact with several proteins, including RNA-binding proteins and polymerase II, and translocate them. circRNA: Circular RNAs; mRNA: Messenger RNA; miRs: MicroRNAs. Created with “BioRender.com” (Supplementary material)[20].