Abstract: Objective To investigate the role of miR-141-3p on the migration and invasion of gastric cancer(GC) cells, and to reveal underlying molecular mechanism. Methods The expression of miR-141-3p in clinical tissue samples, normal gastric mucosal epithelial cell line(GES-1) and gastric cancer cell line(AGS) was detected by RT-qPCR. miR-141-3p mimic was transfected into AGS cells, and then the migration and invasion of cells were detected by Transwell assay. The luciferase reporter experiment was applied to detect potential biological effects of miR-141-3p by targeting at programmed cell death protein 1 (PDCD1). AGS cells that had over-expressed miR-141-3p were then infected with lentivirus PDCD1, and cell migration and invasion were subsequently detected. Results Compared with adjacent tissues and GES-1 cells, the expression of miR-141-3p in gastric cancer tissues and AGS cells was significantly decreased. Over-expression of miR-141-3p significantly inhibited migration and invasion of AGS cells. miR-141-3p negatively regulated PDCD1 expression by directly binding to the 3′-UTR of PDCD1 mRNA.Over-expression of PDCD1 reversed inhibitory effect of miR-141-3p over-expression on the migration and invasion of GAS cells. Conclusions miR-141-3p inhibits the migration and invasion of GC cells by down-regulating the target gene PDCD1.

Key words: miR-141-3p, programmed cell death protein 1(PDCD1), gastric cancer, migration, invasion