Queuosine-modification dependent histidyl tRNA fragment promotes cell-type dependent proliferation [tRNA-Seq]

Specific modifications also affect tRF abundance and the abundance of their cognate, full-length tRNA. Queuosine (Q) modification occurs at the wobble anticodon nucleotide of 4 mammalian tRNAs and protects these tRNAs from fragmentation.

Here, we investigated cell-type and tRNA Q-modification-dependences on cell proliferation. We found that Q-modified tRNA can either increase, decrease, or make no difference on proliferation. Among the six cell lines tested, proliferation only decreased in MCF7, a breast cancer cell line, when tRNAs were Q-modified, but the proliferation can be restored by the transfection of Q-modification-dependent tRFHis. tRNA-seq showed that in MCF7 cells, tRNA Q-modification reduced m1A58 and m3C32 modification levels, consistent with reduced translation.