Background Pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase 1 (PYCR1), an enzyme that in humans catalyzes the NAD(P)H and plays a physiologic function in series of cells. Previous studies indicated that PYCR1 is implicit to tumorigenesis, such as non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and prostate cancer (PC). However, the role of PYCR1 in papillary renal cell carcinoma (PRCC) is limited. Material and method In this present work, we investigated the expression profiles of PYCR1 on the basis of TCGA database as well as the overall survival in patients with PRCC. The small interfering RNA (siRNA) was used to knockdown PYCR1, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and western blot were conducted to identify the expression levels of mRNA and protein. The cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay and colony formation was to explore the proliferative ability in Ketr-3 cells, meanwhile the migration and invasion of Ketr-3 cells were investigated by transwell assays. Result We found that PYCR1 was over-expressed in PRCC tissues and cells. Moreover, the reduction of PYCR1 played a negative role on cell proliferation, migration and invasion in tumor cells. The important proteins, phosphorylated Akt (p-Akt) and phosphorylated mTOR (p-mTOR), also showed a lower level comparing with control group. Conclusion These findings manifested that PYCR1 could promote PRCC progression through Akt/mTOR signal pathway.