Abstract
Transfer RNAs (tRNAs) are abundantly expressed, small non-coding RNAs that have long been recognized as essential components of the protein translation machinery. The tRNA-derived small RNAs (tsRNAs), including tRNA halves (tiRNAs), and tRNA fragments (tRFs), were unexpectedly discovered and have been implicated in a variety of important biological functions such as cell proliferation, cell differentiation, and apoptosis. Mechanistically, tsRNAs regulate mRNA destabilization and translation, as well as retro-element reverse transcriptional and post-transcriptional processes. Emerging evidence has shown that tsRNAs are expressed in the heart, and their expression can be induced by pathological stress, such as hypertrophy. Interestingly, cardiac pathophysiological conditions, such as oxidative stress, aging, and metabolic disorders can be viewed as inducers of tsRNA biogenesis, which further highlights the potential involvement of tsRNAs in these conditions. There is increasing enthusiasm for investigating the molecular and biological functions of tsRNAs in the heart and their role in cardiovascular disease. It is anticipated that this new class of small non-coding RNAs will offer new perspectives in understanding disease mechanisms and may provide new therapeutic targets to treat cardiovascular disease.
Highlights
Small noncoding RNA usually refers to RNA molecules less than 200 nucleotides in length, which are transcribed from DNA, but not translated into protein
This study identified tRNAderived small RNAs (tsRNAs) associated proteins such as IGF2BP1, YBX1, and RPL10 by pulldown assays flowed with mass spectrometry, and showed that binding of 5’-Transfer RNAs (tRNAs) halves with IGF2BP1 prevented it from binding to c-myc mRNA; thereby, facilitating differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) (Krishna et al, 2019)
The tsRNAs are newly-identified Small noncoding RNA (sncRNA) derived from endonucleolytic cleavage of pre-tRNAs or mature tRNAs
Summary
Small noncoding RNA (sncRNA) usually refers to RNA molecules less than 200 nucleotides (nt) in length, which are transcribed from DNA, but not translated into protein. The tsRNAs regulate a variety of biological processes including translation (Emara et al, 2010; Ivanov et al, 2011) (Kim et al, 2017), RNA stability (Haussecker et al, 2010; Kumar et al, 2014; Kuscu et al, 2018), retroelement reverse transcription and post-transcription (Schorn et al, 2017; Boskovic et al, 2020), apoptosis (Saikia et al, 2014), cell proliferation and differentiation (Honda et al, 2015; Krishna et al, 2019).
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