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Regulation of Transcription by Circular RNAs

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Circular RNAs

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 1087))

Abstract

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a class of noncoding RNA that are present in wide variety of cells in various tissue types across species. They are non-polyadenylated, single-stranded, covalently closed RNAs. CircRNAs are more stable than other RNAs due to lack of 5′ or 3′ end leading to resistance to exonuclease digestion. The length of circRNAs varies from 1 to 5 exons with retention of introns in mature circRNAs with ~25% frequency. They are primarily found in the cytosol within the cell although the mechanism of their nuclear export remains elusive. However, there is a subpopulation of circRNAs that remain in the nucleus and regulate RNA-Pol-II-mediated transcription. Bioinformatic approaches mining RNA sequencing data enabled genome-wide identification of circRNAs. In mammalian genome over 20% of the expressed genes in cells and tissues can produce these transcripts. Owing to their abundance, stability, and diverse expression profile, circRNAs likely play a pivotal role in regulatory pathways controlling lineage determination, cell differentiation, and function of various cell types. Yet, the impact of circRNA-mediated regulation on various cell transcriptome remains largely unknown. In this chapter, we will review the regulatory effects of circRNAs in the transcription of their own or other genes. Also, we will discuss the association of circRNAs with miRNAs and RNA-binding proteins (RBPs), with special reference to Drosophila circMbl and their role as an “mRNA trap,” which might play a role in its regulatory potential transcriptionally or posttranscriptionally.

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Acknowledgment

Supported by CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology internal support grant, Rumela Bose is a recipient of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee predoctoral fellowship from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Cell Biology and Physiology, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

    Rumela Bose & Rupasri Ain

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  1. Rumela Bose
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  2. Rupasri Ain
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Correspondence to Rupasri Ain .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life Science, Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China

    Junjie Xiao

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Bose, R., Ain, R. (2018). Regulation of Transcription by Circular RNAs. In: Xiao, J. (eds) Circular RNAs. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 1087. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1426-1_7

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