Int J Biol Sci 2021; 17(1):379-389. doi:10.7150/ijbs.54292 This issue Cite
Review
1. Department of Urology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, China.
2. Department of Gastroenterology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, China.
#These authors contributed equally to this work.
circular RNA ciRS-7 (ciRS-7) is a type of endogenous circular RNA (circRNA) with a closed circular structure. Since Hansen first demonstrated that ciRS-7 could serve as a microRNA sponge in 2013, researchers have paid increased attention to this circRNA. ciRS-7 plays a crucial role in regulating RNA transcription, downstream gene expression, and protein production. Moreover, ciRS-7 acts as an oncogene and promotes tumor progression through competitively inhibiting miR-7 in various types of cancers. ciRS-7 has been identified to be closely associated with breast cancer, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, lung cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, cervical cancer, osteosarcoma, melanoma, colorectal cancer, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, gastric cancer, pancreatic cancer, laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma, and cholangiocarcinoma. In this review, we summarize the biological characteristics, molecular mechanisms, and future challenges of ciRS-7 in multiple tumors.
Keywords: ciRS-7, oncogene, cancers