Emerging epigenetic regulation of circular RNAs in human cancer

Abstract Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are novel members of the noncoding RNA family. Their characteristic covalent closed loop structure endows circRNAs that are much more stable than the corresponding linear transcript. CircRNAs are ubiquitous in eukaryotic cells, and their functions are diverse and include adsorbing miRNAs (acting as miRNA sponges), regulating transcription, interacting with RNA-binding proteins and translating and deriving pseudogenes. Moreover, circRNAs are associated with the occurrence and progression of a variety of cancers, acting as new biomarkers for early diagnosis to evaluate curative effects and patient prognosis. Here, this paper briefly describes the characteristics and functions of circRNAs and further concludes the relationship between circRNAs and human cancer.