Research Projects

Skeletal muscle is a vital organ with high regeneration ability, but atrophy or aging can lead to muscle mass loss and sarcopenia. Myogenesis, the process of fusion of myoblasts to generate multinucleated long muscle fibers, is regulated by factors such as transcription factors, RNA-binding proteins, microRNAs, long noncoding RNAs, and recently discovered circular RNAs (circRNAs). CircRNAs are stable single-stranded RNA molecules that are ubiquitously expressed in eukaryotes and regulate gene expression through cellular regulators. They can be translated into proteins through cap-independent translation mechanisms. Recent studies have highlighted the significance of circRNAs in muscle physiology, but the translation of circular RNAs and the functions of circRNA-derived proteins in muscle regeneration are yet to be explored. Our circRNA-seq revealed hundreds of circRNAs with altered expression during the differentiation of C2C12 myoblasts, and our computational analysis identified several circRNAs with protein-coding potential in muscle cells. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of circRNA translation during myogenesis is essential to produce novel proteins with therapeutic potential to treat muscle pathologies. Our goal is to identify all circRNAs with protein-coding ability and characterize the proteins translated from circRNAs.