MicroRNA-877 acts as a tumor suppressor by directly targeting eEF2K in renal cell carcinoma

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in tumorigenesis. However, little is known about their role in renal cell carcinoma (RCC). In the present study, the function of the miRNA miR-877 in RCC was investigated, and its expression levels in blood and paired RCC tissues were measured by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Bioinformatics analysis predicted eukaryotic elongation factor-2 kinase (eEF2K) to be the potential mRNA target of miR-877, which was verified by luciferase assay. The expression levels of eEF2K in RCC tissues were evaluated by western blot analysis and qPCR. The proliferation and migration abilities of RCC cells were measured by MTT and in vitro wound healing assays, respectively. The present results indicated that the expression levels of miR-877 were downregulated in blood and paired RCC tissues, whereas the expression levels of eEF2K were upregulated in RCC tissues. In addition, overexpression of miR-877 and knockdown of eEF2K significantly reduced the proliferation and migration abilities of RCC cells in vitro. Furthermore, miR-877 affected the eEF2K/eEF2 signaling pathway in these cells. In conclusion, the present study has demonstrated that miR-877 suppresses the proliferation and migration abilities of RCC cells by modulating the eEF2K/eEF2 signaling cascade. Therefore, miR-877 may be considered a potential biomarker for the diagnosis of RCC.