Circular RNAs: Characteristics, Function and Clinical Significance in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. HCC patients are commonly diagnosed at an advanced stage, for which highly effective therapies are limited. Moreover, the five-year survival rate of HCC patients remains poor due to high frequency of tumor metastasis and recurrence. These challenges give rise to the emergent need to discover promising biomarkers for HCC diagnosis and identify novel targets for HCC therapy. Circular RNAs (circRNAs), a class of long-overlook non-coding RNA, have been revealed as multi-functional RNAs in recent years. Growing evidence indicates that circRNA expression alterations have a broad impact in biological characteristics of HCC. Most of these circRNAs regulate HCC progression by acting as miRNA sponges, suggesting that circRNAs may function as promising diagnostic biomarkers and ideal therapeutic targets for HCC. In this review, we summarize the current progress in studying the functional role of circRNAs in HCC pathogenesis and present their potential values as diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets. In-depth investigations on the function and mechanism of circRNAs in HCC will enrich our knowledge of HCC pathogenesis and contribute to the development of effective diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for HCC.

Molecular mechanisms of circular RNAs, transforming growth factor‐β, and long noncoding RNAs in hepatocellular carcinoma

“…CircHIPK3 promoted the migration and proliferation of HCC cells through the miR‐124‐3p/AQP3 axis. In vivo circHIPK3 knockdown experiments demonstrated that suppression of circHIPK3 decreased the growth of HCC cells . Another circRNA implicated in the progression of HCC is hsa_circ_0000673 .…”

Circ_0004913 sponges miR-1290 and regulates FOXC1 to inhibit the proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma

“…Lower expression of circ_0004913 was signi cantly associated with high level of AFP, history of liver cirrhosis, larger tumors, and distant metastases. Previous studies have shown that circRNAs could play a crucial role in cell cycle progression and proliferation [18,19]. After RNase R treatment, circ_0004913 was still detected with a little degradation.…”

Circular RNA circARNT2 Suppressed The Sensitivity of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells to Cisplatin by Targeting The miR-155-5p/PDK1 Axis

“…to cisplatin is still a major obstacle for HCC patients to obtain a satisfactory curative effect 20 . Recent studies have veri ed that many circRNAs play critical roles in modulating tumor development and progression 21 . However, the mechanisms by which circRNAs participate in HCC development and drug resistance remains unclear.…”