m6A2Circ: A comprehensive database for decoding the regulatory relationship between m6A modification and circular RNA

Abstract

Circular RNA (circRNA) is a class of noncoding RNAs derived from back-splicing of pre-mRNAs. Recent studies have increasingly highlighted the pivotal roles of N6-methyladenosine (m6A) in regulating various aspects of circRNA metabolism, including biogenesis, localization, stability, and translation. Despite the importance of m6A in circRNA metabolism, there remains a substantial gap in comprehensive resources dedicated to exploring m6A modification in circRNA. To bridge this significant gap, we present m6A2Circ (http://m6a2circ.canceromics.org/), a pioneering database designed to systematically explore the regulatory interactions between m6A modification and circRNA. The m6A2Circ database encompasses 198,804 m6A-circRNA associations derived from diverse human and mouse tissues. These associations are meticulously categorized into four levels of evidence supported either by experimental data or by high-throughput sequencing data. Moreover, the database offers extensive annotations, facilitating research into circRNA function and its potential disease implications. Overall, m6A2Circ aims to benefit the research community and bolster novel discoveries in terms of crosstalk between m6A and circRNA.