Therapeutic Prospects of Artificially Synthesized Circular <scp>RNA</scp>

Endogenous circRNAs play crucial physiological roles within organisms and hold significant potential as biomarkers for disease diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic targeting. The closed-loop structure of circRNAs confers unique advantages in stability, making them ideal candidates for programmable delivery vectors and platforms for drug delivery and therapeutic applications. Various artificial synthesis techniques have been developed to ensure a reliable supply of engineered circular RNAs, thereby enabling the creation of novel drugs and therapies. However, there remains a notable absence of a systematic summary regarding the landscape and emerging trends of artificially synthesized circular RNAs. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of the preparation and purification methods, sequence design and optimization strategies, delivery technologies, quality control, application scenarios, as well as the progress in pre-clinical and clinical research on drugs and therapies related to artificially synthesized circular RNAs. Building upon this foundation, we conducted an in-depth analysis of the clinical translation hurdles and forthcoming trends in this field. We believe that clinical applications of circular RNAs as therapeutic approaches are promising after experts and scholars in both scientific research area and industry strengthen their collaboration. This article is categorized under: Regulatory RNAs/RNAi/Riboswitches > Regulatory RNAs RNA in Disease and Development > RNA in Disease Translation > Mechanisms.