Abstract
Accumulating evidence has indicated that microRNAs can regulate downstream signaling pathways and play an important role in various tumors. In this study, we found that miR-223-3p was differentially expressed in 40 paired gastric cancer tissues and adjacent tissues and that miR-223-3p was positively correlated with tumor invasion depth and lymph node metastasis. Luciferase reporter assay confirmed that Arid1a was the target gene of miR-223-3p. Functional assays showed that miR-223-3p promoted the proliferation and invasion of gastric cancer cells by regulating the expression of Arid1a. We also confirmed that miR-223-3p regulated the growth of gastric cancer cells in vivo, while an antagomir against miR-223-3p significantly inhibited tumor growth. In conclusion, our results demonstrated that miR-223-3p inhibits gastric cancer cell progression by decreasing the expression of Arid1a. Therefore, miR-223-3p may act as a potential therapeutic target for patients with gastric cancer.