Sharma A, Bansal C, Sharma KL, Kumar A. Circular RNA: The evolving potential in the disease world. World J Med Genet 2024; 12(1): 93011 [DOI: 10.5496/wjmg.v12.i1.93011]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Ashok Kumar, MCh, Doctor, Professor, Department of Surgical Gastroenterology, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Raebareli Road, Lucknow 226014, Uttar Pradesh, India. doc.ashokgupta@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Article-Type of This Article
Opinion Review
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Med Genet. Sep 20, 2024; 12(1): 93011 Published online Sep 20, 2024. doi: 10.5496/wjmg.v12.i1.93011
Circular RNA: The evolving potential in the disease world
Aarti Sharma, Cherry Bansal, Kiran Lata Sharma, Ashok Kumar
Aarti Sharma, Department of Research, Mayo Clinic Arizona, Phoenix, AZ 85054, United States
Cherry Bansal, Department of Pathology, Dr. S Tantia Medical College, Hospital and Research Center, Sri Ganganagar 335002, Rajasthan, India
Kiran Lata Sharma, Department of Pathology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, United States
Ashok Kumar, Department of Surgical Gastroenterology, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow 226014, Uttar Pradesh, India
Author contributions: Sharma A designed and wrote the manuscript; Sharma KL and Bansal C performed the literature search and designed the tables and figures; Kumar A is the senior author and supervised all the work. All authors have proofread and finalized the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflict of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ashok Kumar, MCh, Doctor, Professor, Department of Surgical Gastroenterology, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Raebareli Road, Lucknow 226014, Uttar Pradesh, India. doc.ashokgupta@gmail.com
Received: February 15, 2024 Revised: May 23, 2024 Accepted: July 2, 2024 Published online: September 20, 2024 Processing time: 216 Days and 13.4 Hours
Abstract
Circular RNAs (circRNAs), a new star of noncoding RNAs, are a group of endogenous RNAs that form a covalently closed circle and occur widely in the mammalian genome. Most circRNAs are conserved throughout species and frequently show stage-specific expression during various stages of tissue development. CircRNAs were a mystery discovery, as they were initially believed to be a product of splicing errors; however, subsequent research has shown that circRNAs can perform various functions and help in the regulation of splicing and transcription, including playing a role as microRNA (miRNA) sponges. With the application of high throughput next-generation technologies, circRNA hotspots were discovered. There are emerging indications that explain the association of circRNAs with human diseases, like cancers, developmental disorders, and inflammation, and circRNAs may be a new potential biomarker for the diagnosis and treatment outcome of various diseases, including cancer. After the discoveries of miRNAs and long noncoding RNAs, circRNAs are now acting as a novel research entity of interest in the field of RNA disease biology. In this review, we aim to focus on major updates on the biogeny and metabolism of circRNAs, along with their possible/established roles in major human diseases.
Core Tip: This opinion review covers the biogenesis and metabolism of circular RNAs (circRNAs) as well as their functions and potential roles in major human diseases. We review major peer-reviewed articles published in the field of cirRNAs and the involvement of this class of noncoding RNAs in major human diseases. The role of circRNAs as molecular markers or potential targets will provide promising application perspectives, such as in early diagnoses, better treatment plans, therapeutic evaluations, prognosis predictions, and even gene therapy for human diseases.
