Dysregulation of the miR-25-IMPA2 axis promotes metastatic progression in clear cell renal cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND: The molecular mechanism underlying clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) metastasis remains unclear. We therefore aimed to elucidate the role of IMPA2 in ccRCC metastatic progression. METHODS: Using the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining, we investigated differences in IMPA2 mRNA and protein expression, as well as their clinical relevance, in ccRCC. To investigate the function of IMPA2 in ccRCC metastasis, we performed in vitro migration and in vivo lung colony-forming assays. We further explored the effect of microRNA (miR)-25 on IMPA2 expression by performing a luciferase reporter assay. FINDINGS: We show that ccRCC expresses relatively lower transcript levels of IMPA2 than normal kidney tissue. IMPA2 downregulation was greater in high-grade ccRCC than in low-grade ccRCC and was correlated with a poor prognosis in ccRCC patients. Importantly, we demonstrate that IMPA2 expression is inversely associated with the metastatic potential of ccRCC cells. We found that IMPA2 knockdown promotes, but overexpression suppresses, the cellular migration and lung colony-forming abilities of ccRCC cells. By using in silico and luciferase reporter assays, we found that IMPA2 expression is primarily influenced by miR-25 in ccRCC cells. Significantly, the inhibition of miR-25 function restored IMPA2 expression, thereby diminishing the metastatic potential of ccRCC cells. INTERPRETATION: We conclude that miR-25-mediated IMPA2 downregulation constitutes a novel signature for cancer metastasis and poor outcomes in ccRCC. We further postulate that the therapeutic targeting of miR-25 can be useful for preventing the metastatic progression of ccRCC associated with IMPA2 downregulation. FUND: This study was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan (MOST 107-2314-B-038-094, MOST 106-2314-B-038-069-MY3, MOST 105-2320-B-038-021-MY3 and MOST 107-2320-B-038-056).