Circular RNAs: a novel tool in the development of digestive system biomarker

Abstract

As a class of endogenous non-coding RNA expressed by regulatory genes, circular RNAs (circRNAs) have attracted widespread attention due to their unique closed-loop structure. CircRNAs can not only exist stably in different tissues and organs, but also widely exist in blood, exocrine, lymph, saliva and other body fluids. They are involved in the regulation of embryonic development, aging and many pathophysiological processes related to various diseases. Recently, the diagnosis and treatment of digestive diseases have made great advances due to the rapid development of fundamental research. However, most diseases are still lack of accurate early diagnosis and miss the best treatment opportunity, the concomitant complications seriously endanger human health and even lead to death. With the circRNAs becoming a hot research spot, the roles of circRNAs in digestive diseases have also been confirmed and recognized. This review mainly introduces the biological characteristics of circRNAs and their association with digestive diseases, expecting to contribute to the future research on digestive diseases and the exploration of circRNAs function.