Circular RNA hsa_circ_001895 serves as a sponge of microRNA-296-5p to promote clear cell renal cell carcinoma progression by regulating SOX12.

There is an urgent need to find novel potential therapeutic targets for the diagnosis and treatment of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) due to its highly invasive ability as a common urological malignant tumor. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been indicated as potentially critical mediators in various types of tumor progression. We first used qRT-PCR analysis to find dysregulated circRNAs in ccRCC. A novel circRNA, hsa_circ_001895, was upregulated in ccRCC specimens and associated with metastatic properties of ccRCC. However, the tumorigenic mechanism of hsa_circ_001895 on ccRCC is yet to be found. We first indicated that hsa_circ_001895 predicted a poor prognosis in ccRCC patients. Additionally, overexpression of hsa_circ_001895 not only promoted cell proliferation, invasion and migration of ccRCC, but also inhibited cell apoptosis, whereas hsa_circ_001895 knockdown reversed the effect on ccRCC progression. In vivo s.c. xenotransplanted tumor model also showed that silencing hsa_circ_001895 could suppress in vivo ccRCC growth. Mechanistically, hsa_circ_001895 directly binds with microRNA (miR)-296-5p and inhibits its expression. Moreover, sex determining region Y (SRY)-box 12 (SOX12) was identified as a target of miR-296-5p, the expression of which was suppressed by miR-296-5p. Notably, the inhibitory effect of hsa_circ_001895 on ccRCC progression was reversed by miR-296-5p inhibitor. In general, our findings indicated that hsa_circ_001895 may sponge miR-296-5p and promote SOX12 expression, which is the underlying mechanism of hsa_circ_001895-induced ccRCC progression.