Comprehensive Spatiotemporal Profiling of circRNA Expression Dynamics and Functional Roles in Regenerating Zebrafish Heart

Cardiovascular diseases are a major cause of mortality globally, primarily due to the limited regeneration ability of human hearts. Zebrafish hearts show high regenerative potential, which makes them a common model for studying mechanisms of heart regeneration. circRNAs have gained increasing interest from researchers as a regulatory molecule. However, their functions in heart regeneration are poorly recognized, especially in zebrafish, where there is a lack of systematic and comprehensive analysis of circRNA expression dynamics and their spatial distribution. This study aims to characterize the dynamics of circRNA expression, including circRNA expression location and distribution at 5 time points of zebrafish heart regeneration, and identify regeneration-associated circRNAs to evaluate their function in zebrafish heart regeneration. The outcomes of this project will provide a foundation for research on circRNAs and the corresponding mechanisms and regulation of zebrafish heart regeneration.