Abstract: Circular RNA（circRNA） is one kind of closed circular RNA molecule that produced by backsplice，they are stable， conserved， diverse and exhibit tissue or developmental stage specific expression.The functions of circRNA include roles asm icroRNA（m iRNA） sponges， regulating the expression of its parent gene by cis or trans，and participating in protein translation.In addition，circRNA in the physiological process of neural development and related diseases， which is expected to become biomarker.In this review， we focus on the characteristics of circRNA molecular， formation mechanism， functions， databases in common use and its relationship with diseases of the nervous system.

Key words: Circular RNA, microRNA（miRNA） sponges, circRNA database, nervous system

摘要： 环形RNA（circular RNAs，circRNAs）是一类通过反向剪接所形成的闭合环状RNA分子，广泛存在于各种生物细胞中，并且具有结构稳定、表达量丰富以及在不同组织及其不同发育阶段具有表达特异性等特征。circRNAs可以作为miRNA海绵调控m iRNA的表达，通过cis或trans调控其母基因的表达，并参与蛋白的翻译。此外，circRNA在神经发育及相关疾病的发生和发展过程中起着重要的调控作用，有望成为疾病诊断的分子标志物。本文就circRNA的分子特征、形成机制、功能、常用的数据库及其与神经系统疾病的关系做一综述。

关键词: 环状RNA, microRNA海绵, circRNA数据库, 神经系统