Emerging roles of tRNA-derived fragments in cancer

作者：Min Fu, Jianmei Gu, Maoye Wang, Jiahui Zhang, Yanke Chen, Pengcheng Jiang, Taofeng Zhu, Xu Zhang · 发表于：Molecular Cancer · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1186/s12943-023-01739-5 · 被引用次数：120 · 研究领域：RNA modifications and cancer、RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms、Cancer-related molecular mechanisms research

tRNA-derived fragments (tRFs) are an emerging category of small non-coding RNAs that are generated from cleavage of mature tRNAs or tRNA precursors. The advance in high-throughput sequencing has contributed to the identification of increasing number of tRFs with critical functions in distinct physiological and pathophysiological processes. tRFs can regulate cell viability, differentiation, and homeostasis through multiple mechanisms and are thus considered as critical regulators of human diseases including cancer. In addition, increasing evidence suggest the extracellular tRFs may be utilized as promising diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for cancer liquid biopsy. In this review, we focus on the biogenesis, classification and modification of tRFs, and summarize the multifaceted functions of tRFs with an emphasis on the current research status and perspectives of tRFs in cancer.