Editing Transfer RNA (section)

== Clinical relevance ==
Interference with aminoacylation may be useful as an approach to treating some diseases: cancerous cells may be relatively vulnerable to disturbed aminoacylation compared to healthy cells. The protein synthesis associated with cancer and viral biology is often very dependent on specific tRNA molecules. For instance, for liver cancer charging tRNA-Lys-CUU with lysine sustains liver cancer cell growth and metastasis, whereas healthy cells have a much lower dependence on this tRNA to support cellular physiology.<ref name="pmid33084231">{{cite journal | vauthors = Zhang R, Noordam L, Ou X, Ma B, Li Y, Das P, Shi S, Liu J, Wang L, Li P, Verstegen MM, Reddy DS, van der Laan LJ, Peppelenbosch MP, Kwekkeboom J, Smits R, Pan Q | title = The biological process of lysine-tRNA charging is therapeutically targetable in liver cancer |journal = Liver Int. | volume = 41 | issue = 1 | pages = 206–219 | date = January 2021 | pmid = 33084231 | pmc = 7820958 | doi = 10.1111/liv.14692 }}</ref> Similarly, hepatitis E virus requires a tRNA landscape that substantially differs from that associated with uninfected cells.<ref name="pmid 32133647">{{cite journal | vauthors = Ou X, Ma B, Zhang R, Miao Z, Cheng A, Peppelenbosch MP, Pan Q | title = A simplified qPCR method revealing tRNAome remodeling upon infection by genotype 3 hepatitis E virus | journal = FEBS Letters | volume = 594 | issue = 12 | pages = 2005–2015 | date = June 2020 | pmid = 32133647 | doi = 10.1002/1873-3468.13764 | doi-access = free | hdl = 1765/126038 | hdl-access = free }}</ref> Hence, inhibition of aminoacylation of specific tRNA species is considered a promising novel avenue for the rational treatment of a plethora of diseases.