miR-638 acts as an oncogene and predicts poor prognosis in renal cell carcinoma

Xiang Pan; Tao He; Xiqi Peng; Hang Li; Fangting Zhang; Yongqing Lai

miR-638 acts as an oncogene and predicts poor prognosis in renal cell carcinoma

Am J Transl Res. 2020 Jul 15;12(7):3645-3659. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Xiang Pan¹, Tao He², Xiqi Peng^{3

4}, Hang Li³, Fangting Zhang³, Yongqing Lai³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Urology, Affiliated Hospital of Yangzhou University, Yangzhou University Yangzhou 225000, Jiangsu, P. R. China.
² Department of Urology, Shenzhen People's Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University; The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology) Shenzhen 518020, Guangdong, P. R. China.
³ Guangdong and Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Male Reproductive Medicine and Genetics, Peking University Shenzhen Hospital Shenzhen 518036, Guangdong, P. R. China.
⁴ Shantou University Medical College Shantou 515041, Guangdong, P. R. China.

PMID: 32774724
PMCID: PMC7407746

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the function and prognostic value of miR-638 in renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Methods: Expression of miR-638 in RCC tissues and corresponding noncancerous tissues were examined by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). To explore the effects of miR-638 on cell migration, invasion, viability, and apoptosis of RCC cells, wound scratch, transwell, MTT, CCK-8, and flow cytometry assays were performed. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses were used to evaluate the relationship between miR-638 expression and prognosis of RCC patients. Potential target genes of miR-638 were predicted and validated via multiple bioinformatics analyses.

Results: miR-638 was upregulated in RCC tissues when compared with corresponding noncancerous tissues (P < 0.05). Upregulation of miR-638 expression by transfection with a synthetic miR-638 mimic promoted cell migration, invasion, and viability and suppressed cell apoptosis. Moreover, Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that upregulation of miR-638 associated with shorter overall survival (OS; P = 0.001). Cox univariate and multivariate regression analysis suggested that miR-638 expression is an independent predictive factor for the prognosis of RCC patients (P = 0.004). KCNQ1, DNAJC6, and PNP were identified as potential target genes of miR-638.

Conclusions: The results of this study demonstrated that miR-638 functions as an oncogene in RCC and has the potential to be a prognostic biomarker for RCC.

Keywords: biomarkers; miR-638; microRNA; oncogene; renal cell carcinoma.