tRNA^Ini_CAT inhibits proliferation and promotes apoptosis of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma cells

Abstract

Background Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) brings a heavy blow to the patient's voice. Transfer RNA (tRNA) is a common RNA, the roles of tRNAs in LSCC are largely unknown. Methods The tRNA expression profile in LSCC tissues and adjacent normal tissues was measured by a tRNA qRT‐PCR array. The expression level of tRNAIniCAT in LSCC tissues and plasmas was detected by qRT‐PCR. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was established. tRNAIniCAT was upregulated by a lentivirus vector in the LSCC cell line. Moreover, tRNAIniCAT was upregulated in LSCC xenograft nude mouse model and the xenografts were used for pathological analysis and transmission electron microscope (TEM) observation. Results The top 10 upregulated tRNAs were tRNALysCTT‐1, tRNALeuTAA, tRNAPheGAA, tRNALeuCAG, tRNATyrATA, tRNAMetCAT, tRNATyrGTA‐1, tRNAThrCGT, tRNATyrGTA‐2, tRNAAlaAGC; and the top 10 downregulated tRNAs were tRNAIniCAT, mt‐tRNAGluTTC, tRNAValCAC‐3, mt‐tRNATrpTCA, mt‐tRNATyrGTA, mt‐tRNALysTTT, mt‐tRNAThrTGT, mt‐tRNAAspGTC, mt‐tRNAAsnGTT, mt‐tRNAProTGG. tRNAIniCAT was downregulated in LSCC tissues and plasma. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) in LSCC tissues and the plasma of patients with LSCC was 0.717 and 0.808, respectively. tRNAIniCAT inhibited LSCC cell proliferation and promoted apoptosis. The in vivo results showed that tRNAIniCAT inhibited the growth of the xenografts and promoted apoptosis. Conclusions This is the first study to provide tRNA expression profiles for LSCC tissues. tRNAIniCAT may be used as a new biomarker for the early diagnosis of LSCC. tRNAIniCAT inhibits cell proliferation and promotes apoptosis in vitro and in vivo.

Selection of tRNA Genes in Human Breast Tumours Varies Substantially between Individuals

“…An independent study generated stably transfected derivatives of a breast carcinoma line in which tRNA-iMet-CAT expression was raised ~1.5-fold; this also stimulated proliferation significantly, as well as decreasing apoptosis [18]. In contrast to these proliferative responses in breast epithelial cells, 2.1-fold overexpression of tRNA-iMet-CAT in a laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma cell line suppressed proliferation in favour of apoptosis [50]. Other studies found no effect of tRNA-iMet-CAT overexpression on the proliferation of human glioma cells [51], mouse melanoma [52] or mouse embryonic fibroblasts [53]; however, it had other oncogenic effects in these systems.…”