Up-regulated miR-196a promotes gastric cancer MGC-803 cells migration and invasion by regulating HOXA5 expression

YIN Lingdi; SUN Qian; LIN Mengjie; SUN Ming; DE Wei; LIU Zhijun

Abstract：Objective To investigate the expression level of miR-196a in gastric cancer( GC) tissues and cell lines, to study the effect of inhibition or up-regulation of miR-196a expression on GC cells migration and invasion, and to find out the possible target gene. Methods Real-time quantitative PCR was performed to detect the relative expression of miR-196a in GC cell lines and tissues. MiR-196a inhibitors or mimics were transfected into MGC-803 cells to down-regulate or up-regulate miR-196a expression, and Real-time quantitative PCR was used to test the transfection efficiency. Wound healing, transwell and MTT assays were performed to detect the effect of miR-196a on GC cells migration, invasion and proliferation. Bioinformatics and Western blotting analysis were performed to investigate the target genes that could be regulated by miR-196a. Results This study showed that miR-196a was highly expressed both in GC samples and cell lines compared with their corresponding normal tissues and cell lines (approximately 28 folds, P<0?01). Transfection of miR-196a inhibitors or mimics could significantly decrease ( 53%, P<0?01) or increase ( approximately 8 folds, P<0?01) its expression in MGC-803 cells, respectively. And down-regulation of miR-196a expression could inhibit MGC-803 cells migra-tion, invasion and proliferation by down-regulating HOXA5 expression. Conclusion Up-regulated miR-196a could promote gastric cancer cells migration and invasion by inhibiting the expression of HOXA5, which may affect the development of gastric cancer.