Week 15 (5/21/21) – We discussed research from the Pedersen laboratory on the biological role of circular RNAs (circRNAs) and their role in cancer. In this publication, Okholm et. al investigated the circRNAs profiles and circRNA-RBP interactions in several different lines of cancer. They were able to identify ~160 highly expressed circRNAs in the HepG2 and K562 cells lines and characterize their similarities and genomic properties. These circRNAs all contained high coverage of RBP binding sites with themselves, and their flanking introns. Moreover, each circRNAs was more highly expressed than its full-length transcript counterpart. Additionally, Okholm et. al also characterized the effects of a circRNA, circCDYL, and RBP knockdowns on bladder cancer cells lines. A knockdown of circCDYL resulted in the increase of expression in key cancer genes and that by acting as a sponge for the RNA binding protein GRWD1, circCDYL depletion counteracts the effects of GRWD1 depletion. In conclusion, the work by Okholm et al highlights that no special sequencing methods are needed for circRNA analyses and that circRNAs may play a bigger role in cancer than once thought.
Lackey Lab