Kewei Zhang, Ge Shan , and Liang Chen

Department of Laboratory Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, the CAS Key Laboratory of Innate Immunity and Chronic Disease,School of Basic Medical Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China

Graphical abstract

Modulating miRNA binding sites within circRNAs can effectively enhance their translation efficiency both in vitro and in vivo.

Public summary

■ A circular RNA capable of expressing firefly luciferase and renilla luciferase was constructed.

■ Binding sites for miRNAs within the circular RNA decrease its translation efficiency without affecting its stability.

■ Synonymous mutations in the miRNA binding sites can enhance the translation efficiency of the circular RNA without affecting its stability.

■ In vivo experiments using nude mice and cellular-level experiments both demonstrate that reducing specific miRNA binding sites can improve the translation efficiency and expression duration of the circular RNA.