The Role and Clinical Potentials of Circular RNAs in Prostate Cancer

Abstract

Globally, prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in men globally. Early diagnosis may help in promoting survival in the affected patients. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a novel class of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) which have been found to show extensive dysregulation in a handful of human diseases including cancers. Progressions in RNA identification techniques have provided a vast number of circRNAs exhibiting either up-regulation or down-regulation in PCa tissues compared to normal adjacent tissues. The mechanism of action is not clear for most of dysregulated circRNAs. Among them, function of a number of newly identified dysregulated circRNAs have been assessed in PCa cells. Increase in cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and metastasis have been reported for up-regulated circRNAs which suggest their role as oncogenes. On the other hand, down-regulated circRNAs have shown tumor suppressing actions in experimental studies. Furthermore, in a majority of studies, circRNAs have been found to sponge microRNAs (miRNAs), negatively regulating expression or activity of the downstream miRNAs. Additionally, they have been identified in interaction with regulatory proteins. This axis consequently regulates a signaling pathway, a tumor suppressor, or an oncogene. Easy, quick, and reliable detection of circRNAs in human body fluids also suggests their potentials as biomarker candidates for diagnosis and prediction of prognosis in PCa patients. In this review, we have discussed the role and potentials of a number of dysregulated circRNAs in PCa.

Magnetic Levitation of Personalized Nanoparticle–Protein Corona as an Effective Tool for Cancer Detection

“…The efficacy of current medical protocols is still limited by diagnostic failures due to features of primary tumors (e.g., isodense tumors related to the surrounding parenchyma), to the patients (e.g., presence of metal implants), or adverse toxicity (e.g., nephrotoxicity, reactions to the contrast medium, radiation exposure) [17,19,20]. Nonetheless, PSA, the most useful marker for the diagnosis of prostate cancer, may not distinguish cancer from other prostate disorders, such as benign prostate hyperplasia and prostatitis [21]. Needing to be adjusted for the patient's age, PSA may also underestimate severe pathological conditions [22].…”

The Role of Circular RNAs in the Carcinogenesis of Bladder Cancer

“…Newly identified circRNAs have been introduced through high-throughput approaches such as next-generation sequencing (NGS), and microarray analysis, which make the huge identification of ncRNAs possible, while qRT-PCR is the main technique with potential in clinical diagnosis and quantification of circRNAs for both prognostic and diagnostic goals, and it is also used as the confirmatory method upon a novel ncRNA as previously reported ( 100 ). Vast application of qRT-PCR in quantification of a circRNA, however, is possible when the junction/fusion site is identified ( 8 ). Moreover, other technological drawbacks require to be addressed for clinical applications of circRNAs.…”

“…CircRNAs also show specific cell and tissue tendencies ( 7 ). Their elevated levels in several diseases demonstrate their potentials as diagnostic biomarkers and also therapeutic potentials especially in cancers ( 8 ). Today, due to development of advanced technologies like high-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA seq) and in situ experiments, a huge number of circRNAs have been recognized in animal cells ( 2 ).…”

The Emerging Roles of the β-Secretase BACE1 and the Long Non-coding RNA BACE1-AS in Human Diseases: A Focus on Neurodegenerative Diseases and Cancer

“…Several classes of ncRNAs, including lncRNAs, miRNAs, and circular RNAs, have been widely studied in various human malignancies in association with cancer development and progression ( Visone and Croce, 2009 ; Huarte, 2015 ; Sayad et al, 2022 ). Although the precise functions of ncRNAs leading to cancer promotion are not completely elucidated, circRNAs, for instance, are found to regulate critical cellular processes via “sponging” miRNAs within axes of action leading to enhanced malignant behaviors ( Taheri et al, 2021 ).…”