Functional role of circRNAs in osteogenesis: A review.

• CircRNAs seem to play important roles in various biological functions. • CircRNAs have been shown to be able to regulate many cellular pathways. • circRNAs might be a suitable inducer to promote osteogenic differentiation of stem cells in bone tissue. The extracellular matrixes (ECM), as well as the microenvironmental signals, play an essential role in osteogenesis by regulating intercellular pathways. Recently, it has been demonstrated that a newly identified RNA, circular RNA, contributes to the osteogenesis process. Circular RNA (circRNA), the most recently identified RNA, is involved in the regulation of gene expression at transcription to translation levels. The dysregulation of circRNAs has been observed in several tumors and diseases. Also, various studies have shown that circRNAs expression is changed during osteogenic differentiation of progenitor cells. Therefore, understanding the role of circRNAs in osteogenesis might help the diagnosis as well as treatment of bone diseases such as bone defects and osteoporosis. In this review, circRNA functions and the related pathways in osteogenesis have been discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]