tsRNA-Ala-3–0030 drives ovarian cancer progression by suppressing ZNF70

Sep 22, 2026

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Ovarian cancer remains a leading cause of gynecologic cancer death, driven by late diagnosis, frequent recurrence, and limited effectiveness of current therapies. Functional significance of transfer RNA-derived small RNAs (tsRNAs) has emerged, yet their roles in ovarian cancer are incompletely defined. This study profiles tsRNA expression, validates tsRNA presence in ovarian cancer tissues and models, and uses cellular and animal systems to identify mechanisms. tsRNA-Ala-3–0030 is upregulated and promotes proliferation, migration, invasion, and tumor progression by directly targeting the tumor suppressor ZNF70.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

tsRNA expression and ovarian cancer context

Results

Upregulation and functional effects of tsRNA-Ala-3–0030

Mechanistic link to ZNF70

Discussion

Clinical and therapeutic implications

TYPE Original Research PUBLISHED 29 January 2026 DOI 10.3389/fonc.2026.1738006 OPEN ACCESS EDITED BY Robert Fruscio, University of Milano Bicocca, Italy REVIEWED BY Camelia Alexandra Coada, University of Medicine & Pharmacy “ Iuliu Ha¸tieganu”, Romania Arpan Dey Bhowmik, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences, United States *CORRESPONDENCE Hongwei Liang [hwliang@nju.edu.cn](hwliang@nju.edu.cn)[ ](hwliang@nju.edu.cn)Youguo Chen [chenyouguo@suda.edu.cn](chenyouguo@suda.edu.cn) †These authors have contributed equally to this work RECEIVED 03 November 2025 REVISED 26 December 2025 ACCEPTED 07 January 2026 PUBLISHED 29 January 2026 CITATION Wang X, Zhou Y, Zhou X, Zhang B, Liang Hand Chen Y (2026) tsRNA-Ala-3–0030 drives ovarian cancer progression by suppressing ZNF70 . Front. Oncol. 16:1738006 . doi: 10.3389/fonc.2026.1738006 COPYRIGHT © 2026 Wang, Zhou, Zhou, Zhang, Liang and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. tsRNA-Ala-3–0030 drives ovarian cancer progression by suppressing ZNF70 Xinchen Wang 1,2†, Ying Zhou 1,3†, Xinhao Zhou 4, Bing Zhang 5, Hongwei Liang 6* and Youguo Chen 1* 1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The First Afﬁliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China, 2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tongde Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, China, 3Suzhou Key Lab of Multi-modal Data Fusion and Intelligent Healthcare, Suzhou, China, 4 University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 5Wuxi Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, The Afﬁliated Women ’s Hospital of Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China, 6 Department of Life Sciences and Technology, China Pharmaceutical University, Jiangsu, China Globally, ovarian cancer remains a leading cause of gynecologic cancer death. This poor prognosis is primarily attributed to advanced disease at diagnosis, a high propensity for recurrence, and the inadequate therapeutic efﬁcacy of current standard regimens. Emerging evidence has established the functional signiﬁcance of transfer RNA-derived small RNAs (tsRNAs) in tumor biology. Nevertheless, their exact mechanisms and roles in ovarian cancer pathogenesis are not yet fully understood. Our research was designed to proﬁle tsRNA expression, verify its presence in ovarian cancer tissues and established cell lines, and leverage cellular and animal models to decipher the functional roles and molecular mechanisms of these molecules. Our analysis revealed that tsRNA-Ala-3–0030 is signiﬁcantly upregulated in ovarian cancer models. Higher expression levels of this tsRNA were associated with enhanced malignant behaviors, including proliferation, migration, and invasion. The suppression of tsRNA-Ala-3–0030 expression attenuated these malignant phenotypes, whereas its overexpression promoted tumor progression in both cellular cultures and xenograft models. Mechanistically, tsRNA-Ala-3–0030 directly targeted the tumor suppressor ZNF70, leading to its downregulation and consequent promotion of ovarian cancer growth and metastasis. Restoration of ZNF70 expression reversed the oncogenic effects of tsRNA-Ala- 3-0030, conﬁrming its pivotal role in mediating this pathway. Collectively, our ﬁndings reveal tsRNA-Ala-3–0030 as a previously unrecognized oncogenic regulator that promotes ovarian cancer progression through ZNF70 downregulation. This study elucidates a ts RNA-dependent tumorigenic mechanism and positions tsRNA-Ala-3–0030 as a dual-purpose prognostic indicator and therapeutic target, advancing personalized treatment strategies. KEYWORDS ovaria

FAQs

What is the central finding about tsRNA-Ala-3–0030 in ovarian cancer?

tsRNA-Ala-3–0030 is significantly upregulated in ovarian cancer models and is associated with enhanced malignant behaviors, including proliferation, migration, and invasion.

How does tsRNA-Ala-3–0030 influence ovarian cancer progression mechanistically?

Mechanistically, tsRNA-Ala-3–0030 directly targets the tumor suppressor ZNF70, causing its downregulation and promoting ovarian cancer growth and metastasis.

How did altering tsRNA-Ala-3–0030 levels affect tumors in the study?

Suppressing tsRNA-Ala-3–0030 attenuated malignant phenotypes, while overexpression promoted tumor progression in both cellular cultures and xenograft models.

Sep 22, 2026

Upload by Liam