MiR-199a targeting ROCK1 to affect kidney cell proliferation, invasion and apoptosis

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is one of the three most common cancers of urinary tract cancer, accounting for 2–3% of all systemic cancers. Recent studies have found that miR-199a is lowly expressed in RCC, may act as a tumour suppressor gene to induce the occurrence of kidney cancer. In the present study, we investigated the role of miR-199a in the progression and metastasis of RCC. The results showed that miR-199a significantly downregulated in RCC and cell lines. Overexpression of miR-199a in RCC cell lines significantly inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Furthermore, the qRT-PCR and western blot results showed that miR-199a overexpression significantly downregulated ROCK-1 mRNA and protein levels. ROCK1 was identified as a target of miR-199a, and ectopic expression of miR-199a downregulated ROCK1 by direct binding to its 3′ untranslated region. Together, these findings indicate that miR-199a acts as a tumour suppressor and its downregulation in tumour tissues may contribute to the progression and metastasis of RCC through a mechanism involving ROCK1, suggesting miR-199a as a potential new diagnostic and therapeutic target for the treatment of RCC.