miR-378a-3p promotes renal cell carcinoma proliferation, migration, and invasion by targeting TOB2

Purpose Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors of the urinary system, which has high metastasis. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been reported to participate in RCC progression. The present study aimed to understand the biological role and mechanism of miR-378a-3p in RCC. Methods RT-qPCR assay was used to assess miR-378a-3p and transducer of ERBB2 (TOB2) expression in RCC tissues and cell lines. CCK-8, clone formation, scratch, and transwell assays were carried out to evaluate cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Furthermore, the target genes of miR-378a-3p were predicted by the online bioinformatics databases. Dual-luciferase reporter assay was used to validate the relationship between miR-378a-3p and TOB2. Results miR-378a-3p was highly expressed in RCC tissues and RCC cell lines. Besides, miR-378a-3p accelerated the progression of RCC by mediating cell proliferation, migration and invasion. More importantly, TOB2 was confirmed as a potential target gene of miR-378a-3p. The results of loss-of-function experiments showed that inhibition of TOB2 reversed the inhibitory roles of miR-378a-3p inhibitor on RCC progression. Conclusions miR-378a-3p promoted cell proliferation, migration and invasion through regulating TOB2 in RCC, which indicated a promising target for the treatment of RCC.