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Fig. 1 | Molecular Cancer

Fig. 1

From: Circular RNAs in acute myeloid leukemia

Fig. 1

The biogenesis of diverse circRNA. There are several mechanisms of circRNA biogenesis. A Intron pairing mediated circularization. B RBP mediated circularization. Backsplicing of RNA is favored by long flanking introns, the presence of inverted repeat elements (e.g., Alu elements), and trans-acting RNA binding proteins (A, B) [70]. The base pairing between different introns brings together upstream splice acceptor (SA) and downstream splice donor (SD) sites, leading to backsplicing. During backsplicing, SD attacks SA, which results in exon-intron circRNAs (EIcircRNAs) or exonic circRNAs. C Alternative splicing mediated circularization (lariat-driven). The circRNAs also can originate from alternative splicing intermediates called lariat precursors. In this process, RNA is spliced linearly but skips specific exon. D Canonical linear splicing mediated circularization (intronic lariat-driven). Here intronic lariat precursors that avoid the debranching step make circRNA exclusively contain introns. Ex, exon; In, intron; RBP, RNA binding protein; SA, splice- acceptor site; SD, splice- donor site; EIcircRNAs, exon-intron circRNAs; Alu, Alu inverted repeat elements; BSJ, backsplice junction; ciRNA, circular intronic RNA

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