An emerging role of the 5′ termini of mature tRNAs in human diseases: Current situation and prospects

The fundamental biological roles of a class of small noncoding RNAs (sncRNAs), derived from mature tRNAs or pre-tRNAs, in human diseases have received increasing attention in recent years. These ncRNAs are called tRNA-derived fragments (tRFs) or tRNA-derived small RNAs (tsRNAs). tRFs mainly include tRF-1, tRF-5, tRF-3 and tRNA halves (tiRNAs or tRHs), which are produced by enzyme-specific cleavage of tRNAs. Here, we classify tRF-5 and 5′ tiRNAs into the same category: 5′-tRFs and review the biological functions and regulatory mechanisms of 5′-tRFs in cancer and other diseases (metabolic diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, pathological stress injury and virus infection) to provide a new theoretical basis for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases.