A circular RNA derived from a protein-coding gene regulates axonal arborization and synaptic transmission

NATALIA S. PINO; GIUSTI, SEBASTIÁN A.; PARDI, BELÉN; MORA OGANDO; ANTONIA MARIN-BURGIN; DANIELA M. VOGT-WEISENHORN; WOLFGANG WURST; DAMIAN REFOJO

Viena

Simposio; 13th Microsymposium on Small RNAs; 2018

RNA Society

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have recently emerged as alarge class of animal RNAs with complex tissue- and stage-dependent expressionpatterns. Most of them are originated from protein-coding genes by a?back-splicing? event wherein a covalent bond is formed between a downstream 5?splice donor site and an upstream 3? splice acceptor site of a pre-mRNA.Back-splicing leads to the formation of a ?head-to-tail junction? that containsa unique sequence not present in mRNAs. The abundance, evolutionaryconservation, and tissue-specific expression pattern suggest that circRNAsmight have specific roles in cellular physiology. Several possible functionshave been proposed for this heterogeneous group of transcripts including miRNA sponging,regulation of transcription and protein binding. However, to date, only fewcircRNAs have been functionally characterize.