title: Exon-intron circular RNAs regulate transcription in the nucleus.
abstract: Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) have numerous roles in development and disease, and one of the prominent roles is to regulate gene expression. A vast number of circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been identified, and some have been shown to function as microRNA sponges in animal cells. Here, we report a class of circRNAs associated with RNA polymerase II in human cells. In these circRNAs, exons are circularized with introns 'retained' between exons; we term them exon-intron circRNAs or EIciRNAs. EIciRNAs predominantly localize in the nucleus, interact with U1 snRNP and promote transcription of their parental genes. Our findings reveal a new role for circRNAs in regulating gene expression in the nucleus, in which EIciRNAs enhance the expression of their parental genes in cis, and highlight a regulatory strategy for transcriptional control via specific RNA-RNA interaction between U1 snRNA and EIciRNAs.
authors: 1] School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China. [2] Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
authors: Zhaoyong
authors: Z
authors: Li
authors: School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
authors: Chuan
authors: C
authors: Huang
authors: 1] School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China. [2] Department of Physics, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China. [3] Institute of Biophysics, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China.
authors: Chun
authors: C
authors: Bao
authors: School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
authors: Liang
authors: L
authors: Chen
authors: School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
authors: Mei
authors: M
authors: Lin
authors: School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
authors: Xiaolin
authors: X
authors: Wang
authors: School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
authors: Guolin
authors: G
authors: Zhong
authors: School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
authors: Bin
authors: B
authors: Yu
authors: School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
authors: Wanchen
authors: W
authors: Hu
authors: School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
authors: Limin
authors: L
authors: Dai
authors: School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
authors: Pengfei
authors: P
authors: Zhu
authors: School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
authors: Zhaoxia
authors: Z
authors: Chang
authors: School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
authors: Qingfa
authors: Q
authors: Wu
authors: Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors: Yi
authors: Y
authors: Zhao
authors: 1] Department of Physics, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China. [2] Institute of Biophysics, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China.
authors: Ya
authors: Y
authors: Jia
authors: National Center for Protein Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors: Ping
authors: P
authors: Xu
authors: School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
authors: Huijie
authors: H
authors: Liu
authors: 1] School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China. [2] Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
authors: Ge
authors: G
authors: Shan
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D005091:Exons / Q000502:physiology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D007438:Introns / Q000502:physiology; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012319:RNA Polymerase II / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D022661:RNA, Untranslated / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA
chemical_list: D022661:RNA, Untranslated; D012319:RNA Polymerase II