Circular RNAs: The Brain Transcriptome Comes Full Circle

Akira Gokool; Clement T Loy; Glenda M Halliday; Irina Voineagu

doi:10.1016/j.tins.2020.07.007

Circular RNAs: The Brain Transcriptome Comes Full Circle

Trends Neurosci. 2020 Oct;43(10):752-766. doi: 10.1016/j.tins.2020.07.007. Epub 2020 Aug 20.

Authors

Akira Gokool¹, Clement T Loy², Glenda M Halliday³, Irina Voineagu⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
² Brain and Mind Centre and Central Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia; The Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, Australia.
³ Brain and Mind Centre and Central Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia; School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia; School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, Australia.
⁴ School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: i.voineagu@unsw.edu.au.

PMID: 32829926
DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2020.07.007

Abstract

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a class of RNA molecules with a covalently closed loop structure formed by back-splicing of exon-exon junctions. The detection of circRNAs across many eukaryotic species, often with cell-type- and tissue-type-specific expression, has catalyzed a growing interest in understanding circRNA biogenesis and their potential functions. circRNAs are enriched in the brain, and accumulate upon neuronal differentiation and depolarization, suggesting that these RNAs are an integral component of the brain transcriptome, and may play functional roles. Here, we give an overview of the current understanding of circRNA biogenesis and function, discuss how circRNAs contribute to transcriptome complexity in the brain, and discuss recent data on the functional roles of circRNAs in the brain. We also discuss emerging data on the role of circRNAs in brain disorders and address common challenges of circRNA quantification in postmortem human brain.

Keywords: brain; circular RNA; gene regulation; splicing; transcriptome.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Brain* / metabolism
Humans
RNA
RNA, Circular*
Transcriptome*

Substances

RNA, Circular
RNA