Objective  To explore the expressions of microRNA-193a-5p(miR-193a-5p) in renal cancer (RCC)tissues and RCC cell lines and their effects on cell proliferation, migration and invasion in RCC cell lines, and the role of miR-193a-5p target gene protocadherin-alpha 12 (PCDHA12) in RCC.

  Methods  Real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR(RT-qPCR), cell scratch test, cell proliferation test, transwell test and flow cytometry were used to detect the expression level of miR-193a-5p and its effects on the proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis of RCC cell line. The expression and prognostic value of PCDHA12 in RCC were analyzed via analysis of GEPIA and UALCAN, and GSCALite was used to analyze the tumor pathway activity, drug sensitivity of PCDHA12 and its interaction protein.

  Results  MiR-193a-5p was highly expressed in RCC tissues and RCC cell lines, and it promoted cell proliferation, migration and invasion and inhibited apoptosis in 786-O and ACHN cell lines. GEPIA analysis found that PCDHA12 was down-regulated in RCC tissue, which was validated in researches in multiple databases. In addition, low expression of PCDHA12 was found to be associated with low survival. As for the activity analysis of tumor pathways, PCDHA12 and its interacting proteins had significant negative correlations with the cycle progression of RCC cells, and they activated EMT pathways, Hormone ER pathways, etc. Drug sensitivity analysis showed that HKR1 and ZCCHC5 were potential biomarkers for drug screening.

  Conclusion  MiR-193a-5p is highly expressed in RCC tissues, promotes the invasion and migration of RCC cell lines and inhibits the apoptosis of RCC cells. PCDHA12 is lowly expressed in RCC tissues, which can predict the prognosis of RCC. MiR-193a-5p promotes the development of RCC by inhibiting PCDHA12 from affecting the RCC cell cycle progression. The results of this study will provide a basis for further study on the role of miR-193a-5p in promoting the progression of RCC.