Circular RNA translation and its application in drug development
mRNA vaccine has played an important role in the COVID-19 epidemic,which marks the beginning of mRNA therapy.In the post-pandemic era,the application of mRNA therapy continues to expand.With a higher stability and lower innate immunogenicity,the circular RNAs(circRNAs)are expected to provide a larger therapeutic window than mRNA.Therefore,it has potential to serve as a new platform technology for the next generation of mRNA therapy.Meanwhile,there are many technical features and challenges in the target selection,sequence design,production and delivery of circRNA drugs.This review briefly summarizes and discusses various aspects of circRNAs as potential therapeutic,including the synthesis,translational regulation,delivery and application.We aim to provide brief introduction to readers who are concerned about the application of circular RNA technology.We also discussed the future of circular RNA technology,which will be improved towards a higher expression efficiency,higher delivery efficiency and lower innate immunogenicity.