Low expression of tRF‐Pro‐CGG predicts poor prognosis in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Abstract

Background & Aims tRFs (tRNA‐derived RNA fragments) have been reported to facilitate cancer progression in multiple cancers. However, their role in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains to be determined. In this study, we mainly investigated the expression of tRF‐Pro‐CGG in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and evaluated its relationship with the clinicopathology and survival time of patients. Methods 37 cases of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, and 15 cases of normal pancreatic tissues were collected which were resected by surgery from January 2017 to June 2020 from the Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic surgery of Changzhou second people's Hospital. The expression of tRF‐Pro‐CGG in paraffin‐embedded tissues was detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). The clinical data including age, sex, tumor location, tumor diameter, tumor clinical stage (TNM stage), depth of invasion, regional lymph node metastasis, serum CA199, and serum CEA were collected and analyzed retrospectively, whether the expression tRF‐Pro‐CGG was correlation with the pathological parameters and clinical outcomes of patients. Results The expression level of tRF‐Pro‐CGG was significantly downregulated in PDAC and associated with an advanced TNM stage (P=0.000) and the N stage (P=0.000) of patients. More importantly, low tRF‐Pro‐CGG expression predicted poor survival in PDAC patients (P=0.003). Conclusions TRF‐Pro‐CGG is under‐expressed in PDAC and is associated with short clinical survival and poor prognosis. tRF‐Pro‐CGG is an independent prognostic factor, which highlights its role as a potential biomarker for PDAC progression and therapy.

tRNA‐derived fragments: tRF‐Gly‐CCC‐046, tRF‐Tyr‐GTA‐010 and tRF‐Pro‐TGG‐001 as novel diagnostic biomarkers for breast cancer

“…Hence, a diagnostic tool with high sensitivity and specificity is urgently needed to remedy the deficiency of early diagnosis. 20 Recently, accumulating evidence has demonstrated tRFs serve as biomarkers in various cancer types, such as nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC), 21 colorectal cancer (CRC), 22 gastric, 13,23 pancreatic, 24,25 breast, 26,27 ovarian 28 and prostate cancers. 29 Many studies have revealed alterations in the level of tRFs in various cancers, some of which are cancer type-specific.…”

tRNA-derived small RNAs: Mechanisms and potential roles in cancers

“…In addition, Li et al found that tRF-Pro-CGG was down-regulated in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and was related to TNM stage and N stage. 81 Furthermore, a low level of tRF-Pro-CGG predicted poor prognosis and short overall survival (OS). 81 .…”

“… 81 Furthermore, a low level of tRF-Pro-CGG predicted poor prognosis and short overall survival (OS). 81 .…”

Transfer RNAs-derived small RNAs and their application potential in multiple diseases

“…For example, tRNA-Ala-TGC-5-1 can be an indicator because it has more than 85% sensitivity and specificity in differentiating melanoma patients (Husna et al, 2022). The low expression of tRF-Pro-CGG betokens poor prognosis in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (Li et al, 2021b). The circulated level of tRNA-Arg-CCT is impaired in patients with clear renal cell carcinoma compared to control (Zhao et al, 2018), likewise, Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology frontiersin.org in oral submucous fibrosis (OSF), tRF-Trp-CCA-007 is downregulated (Zeng et al, 2021).…”