Circular RNA therapeutics: a new class of long-acting RNA medicines for oncology, immunology, and rare diseases.

WHY IT MATTERS

Circular RNA therapeutics could eventually offer longer-lasting treatments for rare diseases with fewer doses needed, but patients should know that claims about safety and effectiveness vary depending on how the medicine is made—there's no one-size-fits-all answer yet.

Scientists are studying a new type of medicine made from circular RNA, which is RNA shaped like a circle instead of a line. Because of their circular shape, these medicines may stay in the body longer and work better than current RNA medicines. Researchers are testing these circular RNA medicines to treat cancer, immune system diseases, and rare diseases.

Circular RNA therapeutics: a new class of long-acting RNA medicines for oncology, immunology, and rare diseases. Abstract: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have progressed from being viewed as splicing by-products to emerging therapeutic constructs with a distinct pharmacology. Their covalently closed topology can increase RNA stability, prolong intracellular persistence, and under some conditions sustain translation relative to matched linear RNAs. However, circRNA performance and immunogenicity depend strongly on the circularisation chemistry, impurity profiles (linear RNA and double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) by-products), sequence and structural features, and the delivery formulation. Consequently, broad claims such as 'circRNA is less immunogenic than mRNA' are unreliable without rigorous, standardised benchmarking. This narrative review provides a conceptually grounded, evidence-informed synthesis of recent advances i Authors: Ugwu et al. Journal: Frontiers in immunology MeSH: Humans, RNA, Circular, Neoplasms, Rare Diseases, Animals