RNA-binding protein interacting with circular RNAs: potential multitarget therapeutic strategies in ischaemic stroke

Numerous single neuroprotective agents have shown promising results in animal studies, but most have fallen short of expectations in large-scale clinical trials and reliable multitarget neuroprotective agents are still lacking in ischaemic stroke. Circular RNAs (circRNAs), which are stable and abundant in the brain, are involved in various pathophysiological mechanisms underlying ischaemic stroke. RNA's subcellular compartmentalisation often links to its function, and specific RNA-binding proteins can selectively interact and recruit several circRNAs to change the subcellular localisation. In this review, we screened and analysing circRNAs released from various cell types that are involved in various biological processes in ischaemic stroke, and predicting several RNA-binding proteins that can interact with circRNAs, thereby altering their subcellular compartmentalisation, to provide potential clues for multitarget drug design in ischaemic stroke.