Regulatory mechanisms and clinical perspectives of circRNA in digestive system neoplasms

Zhenqiang Sun^1,#,✉, Chen Chen^1,#, Yingfeng Su^2,#, Weiwei Wang^3,4, Shuaixi Yang¹, Quanbo Zhou¹, Guixian Wang¹, Zhen Li¹, Junmin Song¹, Zhiyong Zhang¹, Weitang Yuan^1,✉, Jinbo Liu^1,✉

1. Department of Anorectal Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450052, China
2. Department of gastrointestinal surgery, The people's hospital of Dezhou, Dezhou, Shandong 253014, China
3. Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450052, China
4. Department of Pathology, School of Basic Medicine, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450052, China
#Equal contributors

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY-NC) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). See http://ivyspring.com/terms for full terms and conditions.

Citation:
Sun Z, Chen C, Su Y, Wang W, Yang S, Zhou Q, Wang G, Li Z, Song J, Zhang Z, Yuan W, Liu J. Regulatory mechanisms and clinical perspectives of circRNA in digestive system neoplasms. J Cancer 2019; 10(13):2885-2891. doi:10.7150/jca.31167. Available from https://www.jcancer.org/v10p2885.htm

Abstract

A new star, circular RNA (circRNA), is a class of noncoding RNA with a stable cyclic structure. Exonic circRNA mainly exists in the eukaryotic cytoplasm. Intronic circRNAs (ciRNA) and exonic circRNAs with introns (EIciRNA) are found in the nucleus. Recent evidences showed the functional diversity of circRNAs, which could be microRNA (miRNA) sponges, interact with protein or translate into small peptide. Due to the change of human eating habits, digestive cancer remains one of the most common cancers worldwide and it is prone to metastasis. Increasing studies have found a number of circRNAs using RNA sequencing technology and displayed double roles of circRNA in digestive cancer. In this review, we surveyed the biogenesis and regulation of circRNAs, discussed circRNA functions and clinical applications (especially circRNAs in exosome) in digestive cancers, which implied that circRNAs could be as potential biomarkers in diagnosis and treatment of digestive cancers in the future.

Keywords: CircRNA, Digestive cancers, Biogenesis, Regulation, Clinical applications