Table 3.

Summary of candidate circRNAs as therapeutic targets in diabetic kidney disease (DKD).

CircRNA	Expression change	Function	Target miRNA	MiRNAs target genes/pathways	References
circRNA_15698	Up	Promoting ECM-related proteins synthesis	miR-185	TGF-β1	(67)
circ_0000491	Up	Promoting ECM-related proteins synthesis	miR-101b	TGFβRI	(68)
circ_0080425	Up	Promoting MCs proliferation and fibrosis	miR-24-3p	FGF11	(69)
circ_DLGAP4	Up	Promoting MCs proliferation and fibrosis	miR-143	ERBB3/NF-κB/MMP-2	(71)
circLRP6	Up	Promoting MCs proliferation, oxidative stress, ECM accumulation, and inflammation	miR-205	HMGB1/TLR4/NF-κB pathway	(91)
circ_0123996	Up	Promoting MCs proliferation and fibrosis	miR-149-5p	Bach1	(92)
circ_0037128	Up	Promoting MCs proliferation and fibrosis	miR-17-3p	AKT3	(93)
circ-AKT3	Down	Inhibiting ECM-related proteins synthesis	miR-296-3p	E-cadherin	(94)
circ_LARP4	Down	Inhibiting MCs proliferation and fibrosis and promoting MCs apoptosis	miR-424	ND	(95)
hsa_circ_0003928	Up	Promoting TECc apoptosis and inflammation	miR-151-3p	Anxa2	(96)
circ_WBSCR17	Up	Promoting TECs apoptosis, inflammation, and fibrosis	miR-185-5p	SOX6	(97)
circACTR2	Up	Promoting TECs pyroptosis, inflammation, and fibrosis	ND	ND	(98)
circEIF4G2	Up	Promoting fibrotic markers synthesis	miR-218	SERBP1	(99)
circ_0000285	Up	Promoting podocyte injury	miR-654-3p	MAPK6	(100)
circ_0000064	Up	Promoting MCs proliferation and fibrosis	miR-143	ND	(101)
circHIPK3	Up	Promoting MCs proliferation and fibrosis	miR-185	ND	(102)
circHIPK3	Down	Promoting TECs proliferation and inhibiting apoptosis	miR-326/miR-487a-3p	SIRT1	(103)
circRNA_010383	Down	Inhibiting ECM-related proteins synthesis	miR-135a	TRPC1	(104)

ECM, extracellular matrix; MCs, mesangial cells; ND, not determined; TECs, tubular epithelial cells.