20 research outputs found
Circular RNA in Exosomes
Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a novel family
of non-coding endogenous RNAs discovered
in all eukaryotic cells and generated through a
particular mechanism of alternative splicing
called “back-splicing”. These molecules show
multiple functions, by acting as modulators of
gene and miRNA expression, and may have a
role in several biological processes, such as
cell proliferation and invasion with, tumour
development and progression, and in several
mechanisms underlying other diseases. Their
presence has been shown to be abundant in
several body fluids such as blood and saliva.
Based on their biogenesis mechanism, cir-
cRNAs may be categorized into five classes:
exonic circRNAs, intronic circRNAs, anti-
sense circRNAs, sense overlapping circRNAs
and intergenic circRNAs. Recently, the pres-
ence of circRNAs, in addition to that of miR-
NAs and long non-coding RNAs, has been
detected also in small extracellular vesicles
called exosomes. Investigating the presence
and expression levels of serum exosomal cir-
cRNAs could allow us, in future, to discrimi-
nate cancer patients from healthy individuals,identifying new potential exosome-based can-
cer biomarkers.
In this chapter, we briefly will describe the
major features and functions of exosomal cir-
cRNAs, discussing their potential role as
molecular biomarkers for diagnosis, progno-
sis and monitoring of complex diseases,
including cancer