ABSTRACT
With the development of sequencing technology and in-depth research on tRNA-derived small molecules (tsRNAs)‚ more and more tRNAs and their functions have been identified in various species. tsRNAs can be divided into tRNA-derived fragment (tRF) and tRNA-derived stress-induced RNA (tiRNA) according to different cleavage sites. And we will focus on tRF‚ which is a kind of non-coding RNA with regulatory function. To deepen the research of tRF‚ a large number of tRF identification methods based on sequencing data and corresponding databases are being constructed in recent years. The former mainly includes the method of Telonis et al. and tDRmapper‚ while the latter mainly includes tRFdb‚ tRF2Cancer and MINTbase. At the same time‚ both provide a more effective tool for the in-depth research of tRF. The regulation mechanisms of tRF are also being illustrated in many studies. tRF mainly regulates the expression of RNA‚ DNA and proteins in a miRNA-like manner. With further investigations‚ researchers have found that tRF also plays a specific regulatory role in various biological processes of human diseases‚ suggesting its role as a potential biomarker. Herein we mainly summarize the identification methods‚ databases‚ regulation mechanisms of tRF and its role in human diseases.