Gastric carcinoma (GC) is a malignant tumor that is detrimental to human health. Transfer RNA-derived small RNAs are a newly identified class of noncoding small RNAs with specific biological functions that are aberrantly expressed in cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of hsa_tsr013526 as a biomarker for GC. Quantitative real-time fluorescence polymerase chain reaction was used to detect the expression level of hsa_tsr013526. The molecular characteristics of hsa_tsr013526 were verified by agarose gel electrophoresis, Sanger sequencing, and separation of nuclear and cytoplasmic RNA fractions. By testing the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, the diagnostic efficiency of GC using hsa_tsr013526 was determined. Finally, we predicted the downstream of hsa_tsr013526 using functional assays and bioinformatics analysis. Serum expression of hsa_tsr013526 was higher in GC patients than in healthy donors. Serum expression showed differential changes in GC patients, gastritis patients, and healthy donors. Chi-squared tests showed that high expression of hsa_tsr013526 was significantly correlated with T stage, lymphatic metastasis, and tumor node metastasis stage. ROC curve analysis indicated that GC patients could be discriminated from healthy donors or gastritis patients based on their serum levels of hsa_tsr013526. Furthermore, hsa_tsr013526 expression was significantly reduced in postoperative GC patients (p = .0016). High expression of hsa_tsr013526 promotes gastric cancer cell proliferation, invasion, and migration. Serum hsa_tsr013526 was stable and specific, and could be used for dynamic monitoring of GC patients. Therefore, hsa_tsr013526 may be a new biomarker for the diagnosis and postoperative monitoring of GC patients.
Keywords: biomarker; diagnosis; gastric carcinoma; hsa_tsr013526; tsRNAs.
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