Wilms’ tumor (WT), the most common childhood tumor, occurs in sporadic or familial forms. Recent findings reported that abnormal expression in microRNA (miRNA) suggests an important role of miRNAs during WT progress. MiRNAs are endogenous short-chain noncoding RNAs, which have been reported as key biomarkers for detecting tumor onset and progression. However, the functional role of miR-1180 in WT has remained unknown.

MTT and clonogenic survival assays were used to detect WT cell proliferation. Flow cytometry Annexin V-FITC was used to measure apoptosis. In addition, proteins expressions in the cells were determined by Western blotting.

In the present study, we demonstrated that miR-1180 is upregulated in WT when compared with adjacent tissues by quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. In addition, the inhibition of miR-1180 induced apoptosis in SK-NEP-1 cell line in vitro. Moreover, luciferase reporter assay showed that p73 protein was the target of miR-1180, which was confirmed by the results of Western blotting. Finally, in vivo data indicated that the tumor growth in mice was significantly inhibited by miR-1180 inhibitor.

Our results indicate that miR-1180 might serve as a therapeutic target for future WT therapy.