鉴定肿瘤特异分子对研究肿瘤发病机制以及肿瘤诊断和治疗都具有极其重要的价值，目前对肿瘤特异分子的研究和发现主要集中于肿瘤基因组DNA突变，以及由于肿瘤基因组异位导致的融合基因。我们前期研究提示肿瘤特异转录本(tumor-specific transcript, TST)可能普遍存在；进一步，我们整合肝癌和正常组织RNA测序数据，结合生物信息分析，鉴定并筛选出肝癌相关的特异转录本，通过特异的siRNA进行初步的功能筛选，发现其中一个全新的肿瘤特异转录本TST1在肝癌细胞中具有一定的生物学功能。本项目将在前期工作基础上，采用细胞生物学、分子生物学和生物信息学等技术手段，明确TST1的表达特征和临床意义，阐明TST1在肝癌中的功能和作用机制，探索血浆外泌体TST1在肝癌诊断中的价值，将为肝癌的发病机制提供新的思路，为肝癌的诊断和治疗提供新的靶点和实验基础。

Identifying molecules specific to tumor is essential for the deciphering of the cancer development and progression, as well as for cancer diagnosis and therapy. DNA mutations constitute the major focus of tumor-specific discovery efforts to date. The diversity and complexity of cancer transcriptome hold the potential to yield tumor-specific transcript (TST) in cancer. Our recent study revealed an abundant TSTs in cancer. In this study, we have identified a set of TSTs in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by using high-throughput RNA sequencing and bioinformatics analyses. Furthermore, functional assay screening by siRNA indicated that one of these HCC-related TSTs, termed TST1, has significant role in liver cancer cells proliferation. In this project, we will focus on the expression level and clinical significance of TST1 in HCC as well as its function and molecular mechanism to provide new insights into genetic diagnosis and treatment of HCC in clinic.