RETRACTED: Circular RNA circC3P1 restrains kidney cancer cell activity by regulating miR-21/PTEN axis and inactivating PI3K/AKT and NF-kB pathways (Retracted article. See vol. 237, pg. 1617, 2022)

Kidney cancer (KC) seriously impacts public health. We detected the function and mechanism of circular RNA C3P1 (circC3P1) in KC cells. CCK-8, flow cytometry, migration, and invasion assay were respectively used to investigate the efficacies of circC3P1 and microRNA (miR)-21 on cell viability, apoptosis, migration, and invasion. Phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN), circC3P1, and miR-21 expression were changed by cell transfection and detected by quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. Moreover, the apoptosis/pathways-related proteins and proteins were detected by western blot analysis. Besides, the relation between PTEN and miR-21 was detected by luciferase assay. circC3P1 and PTEN were downregulated while miR-21 was upregulated in KC tissues. circC3P1 declined cell viability, migration, and invasion and caused apoptosis. Furthermore, circC3P1 negatively regulated miR-21; miR-21 mimic could reverse the efficacies of circC3P1. Besides, circC3P1 restrained the PI3K/AKT and NF-kappa B pathways by downregulating miR-21. Finally, PTEN was authenticated as a target of miR-21. circC3P1 restrained KC cell growth, migration, and invasion by regulating miR-21/PTEN axis and inactivating PI3K/AKT and NF-kappa B signaling pathways.