摘要
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 fre-quently show stage-specific expression during various stages of tissue develop-ment.CircRNAs were a mystery discovery,as they were initially believed to be a product of splicing errors;however,subsequent research has shown that ci-rcRNAs 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 in-flammation,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 re-search 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.
