• Yuanyan Lou, Jianing Yan, Qingqing Liu, Min Miao, and Yongfu Shao.
• Department of Gastroenterology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Ningbo University, Ningbo, China.
• Ann. Med. 2024 Dec 1; 56 (1): 24208612420861.

BackgroundCircular RNAs (circRNAs) are identified as a novel family of endogenous RNA molecules through 'back-splicing' and covalently linked at the 5' and 3' ends. Emerging researches have demonstrated circRNAs are stable and abundant in exosomes called exosomal circRNAs (exo-circRNA).Materials And MethodsWe searched recent studies and references to summary the research progress of exosomal circRNA.ResultsRecent studies have revealed that exosome-derived circRNAs including exo-CDR1as, exo-circRanGAP1, exo-circIAR play vital roles in cell proliferation and apoptosis, epithelial mesenchymal transition, invasion and metastasis, angiogenesis, immune evasion, cellular crosstalk, cancer cachexia through a variety of biological mechanisms, such as serving as microRNA sponges, interacting with RNA binding proteins, regulating gene transcription, N6-Methyladenosine modification and so on. Due to their characteristics of origin, structure, properties and biological functions, exo-circRNAs are expected to apply in precious diagnosis and prognostic indicators, improving drug and radiation resistance and sensitivity, becoming biological therapeutic targets.ConclusionWe summarize the update of digestive malignancies associated exo-circRNAs in biogenesis, biological functions, molecular mechanisms, clinical implications, potential applications and experimental technique in order to effectively promote transformation and application in the future.

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