环状RNA在巨噬细胞中的作用

The role of circular RNA in macrophages

环状RNA(circular RNA, circRNA)是一类特殊的非编码RNA类型,在真核生物细胞和人体转录本中大量存在。circRNA是由前体信使RNA(pre-mRNA)反向剪接形成的共价闭合环状RNA分子,通过充当微核糖核酸(microRNA, miRNA)"海绵"、与蛋白质结合、参与基因转录调控和蛋白质翻译等发挥其生物学作用。随着对circRNA研究的日益增多,已有研究人员报道了circRNA在免疫细胞中的作用。现对circRNA的形成、分类、生物学特性、功能及其在巨噬细胞中的作用作一概述。

Circular RNA(circRNA) is a novel class of non-coding RNA generated by back-splicing of pre-mRNA, which is characterized by a closed-loop structure. Evidence implicated that circRNAs are abundant in eukaryotic cells and human transcripts, and play critical roles in biological functions, in particular, they are acted as miRNA-sponges, bind to proteins, participate in gene transcription regulation and protein translation, etc. With the increasing studies on circRNA, researchers have identified the role of circRNA in immune cells. The following is an overview of the formation and classification of circRNA, meanwhile its biological properties, functions, and role in macrophages are also introduced here.