{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,1]],"date-time":"2026-06-01T22:10:31Z","timestamp":1780351831905,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"CSIRO Publishing","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,27]],"date-time":"2025-05-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1748304000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":2024,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1071\/journalslicense"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2020,2,14]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Circular RNAs belong to a new category of non-coding RNAs, characterised by a circular structure, conservation, stability and high expression in eukaryotes. They often show tissue- or cell-specific expression. Here, we identified a testis-enriched circular RNA (circRNA), circular Bbs9 (circ-Bbs9) that is highly expressed in mouse testis. An RNase R treatment experiment confirmed that circ-Bbs9 is indeed a circRNA. In situ hybridisation experiments showed that circ-Bbs9 is expressed in Leydig cells along seminiferous tubules and in the cytoplasm of the TM3 Leydig cell line. Knocking down the circ-Bbs9 in TM3 cells by lentivirus vectors arrested cell proliferation, whereas overexpression of circ-Bbs9 induced cell proliferation significantly. Knocking down circ-Bbs9 inhibited the protein level of cyclin D2 (Ccnd2) and RNA immunoprecipitation results showed that circ-Bbs9 interacts with Ccnd2. Our results show that use of the Hedgehog pathway Smoothened Agonist (SAG) HCl and antagonists cyclopamine and gant6 affects the expression levels of Glioma-Associated Oncogene Homolog 1 (Gli1), Ccnd2 and other genes in this pathway. Our research reveals that a Leydig cell-specific circRNA, circ-Bbs9, plays a critical role in Leydig cell proliferation through regulating the levels of cell cycle-related Ccnd2. Thus, our results emphasise the important role of circRNA in the male reproductive system.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1071\/rd18474","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,11,11]],"date-time":"2019-11-11T00:23:16Z","timestamp":1573431796000},"page":"355-362","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Testis-enriched circular RNA circ-Bbs9 plays an important role in Leydig cell proliferation by regulating a CyclinD2-dependent pathway"],"prefix":"10.1071","volume":"32","author":[{"given":"Minzhi","family":"Jia","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"AJoint Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, SCU-CUHK, Key Laboratory of Obstetric, Gynaecologic and Paediatric Diseases and Birth Defects of Ministry of Education, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, P. R. China."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaoliang","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"AJoint Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, SCU-CUHK, Key Laboratory of Obstetric, Gynaecologic and Paediatric Diseases and Birth Defects of Ministry of Education, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, P. R. China."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chuan","family":"Jiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"AJoint Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, SCU-CUHK, Key Laboratory of Obstetric, Gynaecologic and Paediatric Diseases and Birth Defects of Ministry of Education, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, P. R. 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