# Circular RNA Pde4dip regulates myogenesis by interacting with Zfp143 mRNA: a novel regulatory axis

## TL;DR

This study identifies a new regulatory mechanism in muscle cell development involving a circular RNA and its interaction with a specific mRNA.

## Contribution

The paper discovers a novel circRNA-mRNA interaction (circPde4dip-Zfp143) that regulates muscle cell differentiation.

## Key findings

- Silencing circPde4dip reduces Zfp143 mRNA expression and impairs myoblast differentiation.
- CLiPP-Seq identifies circRNAs interacting with mRNAs in muscle cells.
- The circPde4dip-Zfp143 interaction is a key regulatory axis in myogenesis.

## Abstract

Many transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulators tightly regulate skeletal muscle myogenesis, including recently discovered circular RNAs (circRNAs). In this study, we used a crosslinking-based sequencing method called CLiPP-Seq, in which we performed AMT-mediated Cross-Linking of RNA-RNA duplexes followed by Poly(A) RNA Pulldown and sequencing to identify mRNA-interacting circRNAs in the mRNA samples of mouse C2C12 myoblasts and myotubes. BLAST analysis of the circRNAs with mRNAs identified their potential interacting partners. Interestingly, silencing of the circular RNA Pde4dip (circPde4dip) altered the target mRNA Zfp143 (zinc finger protein 143) expression and suppressed the differentiation of C2C12 myoblasts into myotubes. In summary, we identified unexplored mRNA-interacting circRNAs and their possible functions in muscle cell differentiation, specifically the circPde4dip-Zfp143 mRNA interaction regulating myogenesis.