Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-25-2020

Comments

This article is the author’s final published version in Nucleic acids research, Volume 48, Issue 17, September 2020, Pages 9433-9448.

The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkaa657. Copyright © Magee et al.

Abstract

The fragments that derive from transfer RNAs (tRNAs) are an emerging category of regulatory RNAs. Known as tRFs, these fragments were reported for the first time only a decade ago, making them a relatively recent addition to the ever-expanding pantheon of non-coding RNAs. tRFs are short, 16-35 nucleotides (nts) in length, and produced through cleavage of mature and precursor tRNAs at various positions. Both cleavage positions and relative tRF abundance depend strongly on context, including the tissue type, tissue state, and disease, as well as the sex, population of origin, and race/ethnicity of an individual. These dependencies increase the urgency to understand the regulatory roles of tRFs. Such efforts are gaining momentum, and comprise experimental and computational approaches. System-level studies across many tissues and thousands of samples have produced strong evidence that tRFs have important and multi-faceted roles. Here, we review the relevant literature on tRF biology in higher organisms, single cell eukaryotes, and prokaryotes.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

PubMed ID

32890397

Language

English

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