Protein Bait Hypothesis: circRNA-Encoded Proteins Competitively Inhibit Cognate Functional Isoforms.

Recent studies have demonstrated that a large group of proteins encoded by circular RNAs (circRNAs) are likely to play a role in cancer development; however, there remains a substantial gap in our understanding of this group of proteins and their functional mechanisms involved. Therefore, we propose the protein bait hypothesis, which specifies that circRNA-encoded proteins compete with their cognate linearly spliced protein isoforms for binding molecules, preventing proper isoform functioning. This hypothesis may expand our understanding of the functional mechanisms of circRNA-encoded proteins and prove useful in elucidating the mechanisms underlying human development, physiology, and diseases, and in parallel, also aid in drug discovery.