LAUSR

tRNA-derived fragments are a group of small non-coding single-stranded RNA that play essential roles in multiple diseases. However, their biological functions in carcinogenesis are not well understood. In this study, 5'tRF-Gly was found to have significantly high expression in hepatocellular carcinoma, and the up-regulation of 5'tRF-Gly was positively correlated with tumor size and tumor metastasis. Over-expression of 5'tRF-Gly induced increased growth rate and metastasis in HCC cells in vitro and in nude mice, while knockdown showed the opposite effect. CEACAM1 was confirmed to be a direct target of 5'tRF-Gly in hepatocellular carcinoma. In addition, the cytological effect of CEACAM1 knockdown proved to be similar to the over-expression of 5'tRF-Gly. Moreover, attenuation of CEACAM1 expression rescued the 5'tRF-Gly-mediated promoting effects on HCC cells. These data show that 5'tRF-Gly is a new tumor-promoting factor and could be a potential diagnostic biomarker or new therapeutic target for hepatocellular carcinoma.