Objective: Emerging evidence showed that microRNA-376a (miR-376a) functions as a crucial role in human cancers. However, its role in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) remains unclear.
Materials and methods: MiR-376a expression in RCC cell lines was analyzed by quantitative real time-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The target of miR-376a was validated using the luciferase activity reporter assay, and the effects of miR-376a expression on RCC cell behaviors were investigated in vitro.
Results: MiR-376a expression was downregulated in RCC cell lines in comparison with HK-2 cell line. Low miR-376a expression was correlated with poor overall survival of RCC patients. Serum/glucocorticoid regulated kinase family member 3 (SGK3) was validated as a direct target of miR-376a. The overexpression of miR-376a inhibits RCC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion through regulating SGK3.
Conclusions: Taken together, these results demonstrated the tumor suppressive role of miR-376a via targeting SGK3 in RCC and indicated that miR-376a might represent a novel therapeutic target for RCC treatment.