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Updated: May 10, 2026

MicroRNA In situ Hybridization for Formalin Fixed Kidney Tissues
Published on: November 30, 2013
Identification of miR-7 as an oncogene in renal cell carcinoma
Zuhu Yu1, Liangchao Ni, Duqun Chen
1Department of Urology of Peking University Shenzhen Hospital, Institute of Urology of Shenzhen PKU-HKUST Medical Center, The Guangdong and Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Male Reproductive Medicine and Genetics, 1120 Lianhua road, Shenzhen, 518036, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
MicroRNA-7 (miR-7) has been described as a tumor suppressor in several human cancers, but the results of a study to identify miRNAs associated with metastatic capability in breast cancer suggested that miR-7 may be characterized as an oncogene. The present study was to determine the expression and function of miR-7 in renal cell carcinoma. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to validate the expressions of miR-7 in 48 paired renal cell carcinomas (RCC) and normal tissues, based on the preliminary sequencing results of miRNAs. Furthermore, the impacts of miR-7 on cell migration, proliferation and apoptosis were analyzed using wound scratch assay, MTT and flow cytometry, respectively. The results demonstrated that miR-7 was up-regulated in RCC compared with normal tissues (p = 0.001). Down-regulation of miR-7 with synthesized inhibitor inhibited cell migration in vitro, suppressed cell proliferation and induced renal cancer cell apoptosis, prompting that miR-7 could be characterized as an oncogene in RCC. The present study was the first to reveal that miR-7 was up-regulated in RCC and it played an important role in RCC by affecting cellular migration, proliferation and apoptosis. Further researches should be conducted to explore the roles and target genes of miR-7 in RCC and other cancers.
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