Circular RNA are a recently discovered type of RNA molecule, defined by their increased lifespan. Purpose of this thesis was to discern their influence on cells. We chose circular RNAs that were expressed differently in hepatocellular carcinoma based on transcriptomic studies. We selected: hsa_circ_0001806, hsa_circ_0004913, and hsa_circ_0036044. Measurements were made on Huh-7 and Hep-G2 cell lines, which are used as cellular models for analysis concerning hepatocellular carcinoma. We measured metabolic cell activity with AlamarBlueTM and CCK-8 after cells were transfected with circular RNA. The use of the first reagent proved inadequate as biological variability surpassed the effects of circular RNA on the cells. The second reagent, CCK-8, provided results with less variability. We also measured the effects of circular RNA on cell migration using wound healing assays, which we measured with a light microscope. We were successful at optimising the transfection method as well as measuring the metabolic activity and cell migration, but we did not measure any statistically significant influence of circular RNA on cellular metabolic activity or cell migration.
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