Trim24 prompts tumor progression via inducing EMT in renal cell carcinoma

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a malignant tumor originating from renal tubular epithelial cells with poor prognosis and high metastatic rate. Tripartite motif-containing 24 (Trim24) is a member of the tripartite motif (Trim) family and also a valuable oncogene, but its role in RCC remains unclear. We constructed the overexpression and knockdown of Trim24 cell lines to investigate its roles in RCC progression. CCK8, wound healing, and transwell assay were performed to determine the proliferation, migration, and invasion of RCC cell lines, respectively. Moreover, the expression of Trim24 and its clinicopathological significance were evaluated in a human RCC tissue microarray. From our results, Trim24 promoted the proliferation, migration, and invasion of RCC cells in vitro. Importantly, overexpression of Trim24 led to a significant increase in the expression levels of MMP-2, MMP-9, fibronectin, snail, vimentin, N-cadherin, and β-catenin, inducing the EMT process in turn, while the expression of these proteins was significantly downregulated when Trim24 was knocked down in ACHN cells. In addition, Trim24 was significantly upregulated in RCC, and its high expression was negatively associated with the tumor size. Trim24 might operate as an oncogene in RCC progression by inducing the EMT process, suggesting that Trim24 was a potential target for human RCC.