Functional roles of circular RNAs in lung injury

Fei-Fei Gao; Dian-Qing Chen; Yue-Tong Jiang; Cui-Fei Han; Bi-Yun Lin; Zhan Yang; Juan-Hua Quan; Ying-Huan Xiong; Xin-Tian Chen

doi:10.3389/fphar.2024.1354806

Functional roles of circular RNAs in lung injury

Front Pharmacol. 2024 Mar 27:15:1354806. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1354806. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Fei-Fei Gao^#¹, Dian-Qing Chen^#², Yue-Tong Jiang^#³, Cui-Fei Han³, Bi-Yun Lin⁴, Zhan Yang⁴, Juan-Hua Quan⁵, Ying-Huan Xiong⁴, Xin-Tian Chen⁵

Affiliations

¹ Stem Cell Research and Cellular Therapy Center, Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong, China.
² Department of Hand and Foot Surgery, Armed Police Corps Hospital of Hebei, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China.
³ Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong, China.
⁴ Biotissue Repository, Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong, China.
⁵ Laboratory of Gastroenterology, Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Lung injury leads to respiratory dysfunction, low quality of life, and even life-threatening conditions. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are endogenous RNAs produced by selective RNA splicing. Studies have reported their involvement in the progression of lung injury. Understanding the roles of circRNAs in lung injury may aid in elucidating the underlying mechanisms and provide new therapeutic targets. Thus, in this review, we aimed to summarize and discuss the characteristics and biological functions of circRNAs, and their roles in lung injury from existing research, to provide a theoretical basis for the use of circRNAs as a diagnostic and therapeutic target for lung injury.

Keywords: circRNA; fibrosis; inflammation; lung injury; macrophage; smoking.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by grants from the Youth Cultivation Fund of Guangdong Medical University (GDMUQ2022002), and Start-up Fund of Scientific Research for High-level talents (2081z20220003), and the Competitive Allocation Project of Zhanjiang Municipal Science and Technology Development Special Fund (2022A01156), and Guangdong Medical Science and Technology Research Foundation Project (A2023338).