Long non-coding RNA SNHG5 affects the invasion and apoptosis of renal cell carcinoma by regulating the miR-363-3p-Twist1 interaction.

Non-coding RNA dysregulation is associated with many human diseases, including cancer. This study explored the effects of lncRNA SNHG5 on clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). We found that lncRNA SNHG5 is upregulated in human ccRCC tissues and that lncRNA SNHG5 inhibition reduced ccRCC cell invasion and promoted apoptosis in vitro. Bioinformatics database searching revealed that lncRNA SNHG5 is predicted to regulate the interaction between miR-363-3p and Twist1. We further verified a ccRCC biomarker panel, which consists of lncRNA SNHG5, miR-363-3p, and Twist1 in ccRCC tissue samples. The direct SNHG5-miR-363-3p and Twist1-miR-363-3p interactions were confirmed via dual-luciferase reporter assays. Additionally, functional assays demonstrated that SNHG5 promotes cell invasion and inhibits apoptosis, while miR-363-3p inhibits cell invasion and promotes apoptosis via an interaction with Twist1. Furthermore, we found that Twist1 promotes tumor metastasis by regulating matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)2 and MMP9 levels. Together, these results suggest that lncRNA SNHG5 may predict ccRCC patient clinical outcome and serve as a novel anti-ccRCC therapeutic target.