MiR-150 promotes gastric cancer proliferation by negatively regulating the pro-apoptotic gene EGR2

Accumulating evidence suggests small non-coding RNAs (microRNAs) play important roles in human cancer progression In the present study, we found miR-150 was overexpressed in gastric cancer cell lines and tissues. Ectopic expression of miR-150 promoted tumorigenesis and proliferation of gastric cancer cells Luciferase reporter assay demonstrated that EGR2 was a direct target of miR-150 Collectively, our study demonstrated that overexpression of miR-150 in gastric cancer could promote proliferation and growth of cancer cells at least partially through directly targeting the tumor-suppressor EGR2, suggesting a potential strategy for the development of miRNA-based treatment of gastric cancer. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc All rights reserved