Overexpression of Initiator Methionine tRNA Suppresses Cancer Malignancy via Energy Depletion

Translation is an essential process for all living cell types, and translation dysregulation is a common feature in cancer cells that maintains the malignancy. tRNA-iMet is essential for initiation of translation, and tRNA-iMet was considered a cancer-promoting molecular factor, as elevated tRNA-iMet levels could enhance the vigorous translation and accelerate growth of cancers. Currently, the mainstream strategies of targeting therapies for cancer treatment are to target specific alterations of oncogenes or oncoproteins involved in certain cancer pathways, however, the acquired resistance to these treatments seem to be inevitable. There is few research explored what happens if further elevate the expression of oncogenes, based on the philosophy saying "No Extreme will Hold Long". In this study, we exhibit that overexpression of tRNA-iMet could inhibit the growth of multiple types of cancers via energy depletion. This strategy proposed by this study displays a potential and promising option of cancer treatments for clinical translation.