The role of circular RNAs in therapy resistance of patients with solid tumors

Abstract

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a type of single-stranded RNA molecules forming a covalently closed, continuous structure, lacking 5′-3′ polarity and polyadenylated tails. Recent advances in high-throughput sequencing technologies have revealed that these molecules are abundant, resistant to degradation and often expressed in a tissue- or developmental stage-specific manner. circRNAs are produced by back-splicing circularization of primary transcripts and exhibit a variety of functions, including regulation of transcription, translation and cellular localization. This review focuses on differentially expressed circRNAs conferring therapy resistance or sensitivity of solid tumors, such as carcinomas, sarcomas and lymphomas. Deregulated circRNAs can participate in the development of resistance to treatment by modulating regulatory pathways and cellular processes, including the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, apoptosis and autophagy.