Research progress in the role of small RNA fragments derived from tRNA in malignant tumors / 医学研究生学报

ABSTRACT

Noncoding small RNAs are the important regulators of vital processes. Through the high-throughput sequencing and analyses of small RNA fragments, a new class of non-coding small RNAs has been presented, which can be matched to the known tRNA gene. The different sources of tRFs are classified into various types depending on where they match on the parental tRNA. The tRFs can be expressed in a variety of organisms. Recent studies have found that the tRFs have a variety of biological functions in the regulation of gene expression, epigenetics，tumor suppression, neurodegeneration and so on. As a regulatory RNA, the tRFs play an important role in development and progression of tumors, and are known to play regulatory roles in the proliferation and metastasis of tumor cells. This article reviews the research progress on the classification，biological function and role of tRFs in malignant tumors.