MicroRNA-218 Inhibits Cell Migration and Invasion in Renal Cell Carcinoma through Targeting Caveolin-2 Involved in Focal Adhesion Pathway

Purpose: Our microRNA expression signature of renal cell carcinoma revealed that miR-218 expression was significantly decreased in cancer tissues, suggesting that miR-218 is a candidate tumor suppressor. We investigated the functional significance of miR-218 in cancer cells and identified what are to our knowledge novel miR-218 mediated cancer pathways in renal cell carcinoma.Materials and Methods: Gain of function studies using mature miR-218 were performed to investigate cell proliferation, migration and invasion in the A498 and 786-O renal cell carcinoma cell lines. To identify miR-218 mediated molecular pathways and responsible genes in renal cell carcinoma, we used gene expression and in silico database analyses. Loss of function assays were performed to investigate the functional significance of miR-218 target genes.Results: Restoration of mature miR-218 significantly inhibited RCC cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Gene expression studies and luciferase reporter assays showed that CAV2 inv...