Cell-type Specific Features of Circular RNA Expression

Overview

Journal PLoS Genet

Specialty Genetics

Date 2013 Sep 17

PMID 24039610

Citations 1138

Authors

Julia Salzman

Raymond E Chen

Mari N Olsen

Peter L Wang

Patrick O Brown

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Thousands of loci in the human and mouse genomes give rise to circular RNA transcripts; at many of these loci, the predominant RNA isoform is a circle. Using an improved computational approach for circular RNA identification, we found widespread circular RNA expression in Drosophila melanogaster and estimate that in humans, circular RNA may account for 1% as many molecules as poly(A) RNA. Analysis of data from the ENCODE consortium revealed that the repertoire of genes expressing circular RNA, the ratio of circular to linear transcripts for each gene, and even the pattern of splice isoforms of circular RNAs from each gene were cell-type specific. These results suggest that biogenesis of circular RNA is an integral, conserved, and regulated feature of the gene expression program.

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