Recent advance in role of circular RNA in neurological diseases

Circular RNA (circRNA) is a novel endogenous noncoding RNA (ncRNA). CircRNA has been widely concerned in recent years and is a hotspot in the field of ncRNA research owing to stable structure, high abundance and organization specificity. More and more studies have shown that circRNA plays a vital role in the regulation of gene expression. It will be more important in the development and progression of neurological diseases. This review will focus on the formation, characteristics and biological functions of circRNA, as well as the possible mechanism by which it modulates neurological diseases. Key words: Circular RNA; Noncoding RNA; Gene expression regulation; Neurological disease