ISSN: 1837-9664Journal of Cancer
Global reach, higher impact
J Cancer 2024; 15(9):2759-2769. doi:10.7150/jca.92111 This issue Cite
Review
The Roles of CircRNAs in Mitochondria
1. Department of Special Medical Care, Third Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University, Shanghai, 200438, China.
2. Department of Epidemiology, Naval Medical University, Shanghai, 200433, China.
Abstract
Mitochondria participate in varieties of cellular events. It is widely accepted that human mitochondrial genome encodes 13 proteins, 2 rRNAs, and 22 tRNAs. Gene variation derived from human nuclear genome cannot completely explain mitochondrial diseases. The advent of high-throughput sequencing coupled with novel bioinformatic analyses decode the complexity of mitochondria-derived transcripts. Recently, circular RNAs (circRNAs) from both human mitochondrial genome and nuclear genome have been found to be located at mitochondria. Studies about the roles and molecular mechanisms underlying trafficking of the nucleus encoded circRNAs to mitochondria and mitochondria encoded circRNAs to the nucleus or cytoplasm in mammals are only beginning to emerge. These circRNAs have been associated with a variety of diseases, especially cancers. Here, we discuss the emerging field of mitochondria-located circRNAs by reviewing their identification, expression patterns, regulatory roles, and functional mechanisms. Mitochondria-located circRNAs have regulatory roles in cellular physiology and pathology. We also highlight future perspectives and challenges in studying mitochondria-located circRNAs, as well as their potential biomedical applications.
Keywords: mitochondria, mitochondrial genome, noncoding RNAs, circular RNAs, nuclear genome
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