CircRNAs and cancer: Biomarkers and master regulators.
Semin Cancer Biol
; 58: 90-99, 2019 10.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-30550956
ABSTRACT
Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a novel class of regulatory RNAs that despite being relatively abundant have only recently begun to be explored. There are many thousands of genes that appear capable of producing circRNAs, however the function of all but a handful remain to be determined. What is emerging about these highly conserved molecules is that they play important roles in biology and cancer biology in particular. The most explored function of circRNAs is as master regulators of gene expression that act to sequester or ´sponge´ other gene expression regulators, in particular miRNAs. They have also been demonstrated to function via direct modulation of transcription, and by interfering with splicing mechanisms. Although generally expressed in low abundance when compared to their linear counterparts, they are often expressed in a tissue- and developmental stage- specific manner. Coupled with their remarkable resistance to RNAse activity due to a covalent closed cyclic structure, circRNAs show great promise as novel biomarkers of cancer and other diseases. In this review we consider the current state of knowledge regarding these molecules, their synthesis, function, and association with cancer. We will also review some of the challenges that remain to be resolved if this emerging class of RNAs are really to become useful in the clinic.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Temas:
Geral
/
Tipos_de_cancer
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Outros_tipos
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Biomarcadores Tumorais
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Regulação da Expressão Gênica
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RNA Circular
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Neoplasias
Limite:
Animals
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Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Semin Cancer Biol
Assunto da revista:
NEOPLASIAS
Ano de publicação:
2019
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Espanha