ABSTRACT

In the human genome, there are several genes whose primary transcripts are both canonically and non-canonically spliced to generate mRNAs and RNA circles, respectively. These RNA circles are a novel class of long non-coding RNAs that became known as circular RNAs (circRNAs). Recently, a new type of circRNA was discovered and called read-through circRNAs (rt-circRNAs). They are hybrid circles that include coding exons from two adjacent and similarly oriented genes. The function of rt-circRNAs, as well as the impact of read-through transcription in our transcriptome, remains to be elucidated. Although we have just begun to scratch it, here I discussed some insights that these fascinating circRNAs are already giving us about the plasticity of RNA processing in our cells.

 抽象的

在人类基因组中，有几个基因的初级转录物经过规范和非规范剪接，分别生成 mRNA 和 RNA 环。这些 RNA 环是一类新型的长非编码 RNA，后来被称为环状 RNA (circRNA)。最近，发现了一种新型的 circRNA，称为通读 circRNA（rt-circRNA）。它们是混合环，包括来自两个相邻且方向相似的基因的编码外显子。 rt-circRNA 的功能以及转录组中通读转录的影响仍有待阐明。虽然我们才刚刚开始接触它，但在这里我讨论了一些见解，这些令人着迷的 circRNA 已经让我们了解了细胞中 RNA 加工的可塑性。