Down-regulation of MicroRNA-205 promotes gastric cancer cell proliferation

OBJECTIVE : Increasing evidence indicates that MicroRNAs, a class of small RNA molecules, play crucial roles in tumorigenesis, through affecting cell proliferation, apoptosis and metastasis. The present study aimed to in - vestigate the effect of miR-205 on gastric cancer cell proliferation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The expression of miR-205 was examined in the gastric cancer tissues and cell lines. BrdU incorporation assay was used to measure the cell proliferation.West - ern blot was performed to determine the protein expression. RESULTS: miR-205 is significantly down-regu - lated in gastric cancer tissues, compared with adjacent normal tissues. Besides, miR-205 ex - pression is associated with clinical and patho - logical characteristics of patients. In vitro stud - ies further found that inhibition of miR-205 sig - nificantly promoted gastric cancer cell prolifera - tion via cell-cycle progression. Further analyses indicated that miR-205 was able to repress onco - proteinYinYang 1 expression, through targeting its 3'-untranlated region. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that down- regulation of miR-205 may represent an impor - tant mechanism for the development of gastric cancer.