MicroRNA‑30a‑5p suppresses tumor cell proliferation of human renal cancer via the MTDH/PTEN/AKT pathway.

The present study aimed to explore the effects of microRNA (miRNA)‑30a‑5p on tumor proliferation and to seek a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of human renal cancer. The results demonstrated that the expression levels of miRNA‑30a‑5p were reduced in tumor samples from patients with renal cancer compared with in normal tissue samples. Overall survival and disease‑free survival were increased in patients with renal cancer and high miRNA‑30a‑5p expression compared with in those with low miRNA‑30a‑5p. Furthermore, overexpression of miRNA‑30a‑5p suppressed cell proliferation, induced apoptosis, and promoted caspase‑3/9 activities and B‑cell lymphoma 2‑associated X protein (Bax) protein expression in Caki‑2 cells. In addition, the results confirmed that overexpression of miRNA‑30a‑5p inhibited metadherin (MTDH), upregulated phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) and suppressed phosphorylated (p)‑protein kinase B (AKT) protein expression levels in Caki‑2 cells. Furthermore, transfection with small interfering RNA‑MTDH, increased the effects of miRNA‑30a‑5p on the inhibition of cell proliferation, and promotion of apoptosis, caspase‑3/9 activities and Bax protein expression levels in Caki‑2 cells. Knockdown of MTDH expression also upregulated PTEN and suppressed p‑AKT protein expression in Caki‑2 cells. In conclusion, the present study is the first, to the best of our knowledge, to provide evidence suggesting that miRNA‑30a‑5p suppresses tumor human renal cancer cell proliferation via the MTDH/PTEN/AKT pathway.