Until recently considered as rare, circular RNAs (circRNAs) are emerging as important regulators of gene expression. They are ubiquitously expressed and represent a novel branch of the family of non-coding RNAs. Recent investigations showed that circRNAs are regulated in the cardiovascular system and participate in its physiological and pathological development. In this review article, we will provide an overview of the role of circRNAs in cardiovascular health and disease. After a description of the biogenesis of circRNAs, we will summarize what is known of the expression, regulation and function of circRNAs in the cardiovascular system. We will then address some technical aspects of circRNAs research, discussing how artificial intelligence may aid in circRNAs research. Finally, the potential of circRNAs as biomarkers of cardiovascular disease will be addressed and directions for future research will be proposed.
Keywords: Artificial intelligence; Biomarker; CRISPR, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats; CV, cardiovascular; Cardiovascular disease; Cardiovascular system; Circular RNAs; DCM, dilated cardiomyopathy; EMT, epithelial-mesenchymal transition; Non-coding RNAs; RNA-seq, RNA sequencing; RPAD, RNase R treatment followed by polyadenylation and poly(A)+ RNA depletion; RT-qPCR, reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction; circRNAs, circular RNAs; lncRNAs, long non-coding RNAs; miRNAs, microRNAs; ncRNAs, non-coding RNAs.