Upregulation of microRNA-370 promotes cell apoptosis and inhibits proliferation by targeting PTEN in human gastric cancer

Growing evidence suggests that microRNA plays an essential role in the development and metastasis of many tumors, including gastric cancer. Aberrant miR-370 expression has been indicated in tumor growth, but the mechanism of miR-370 inhibits both the proliferation and metastatic ability for gastric cancer remains unclear. Accumulating evidence reported that PTEN signaling pathway plays an important role in the cellular processes, such as apoptosis, cell growth and proliferation. The goal of this study was to identify whether miR-370 could inhibit the growth, migration, invasion, proliferation and metastasis of gastric cancer through targeting PTEN. Real-time PCR (RT-PCR) was used to quantify miR-370 expression in vitro experiments. The biological functions of miR-370 were determined via cell proliferation. Our study indicated that miR-370 targeted PTEN leading to activation of apoptosis signaling and the cell proliferation of cervical cancer cells, ameliorating gastric cancer growth and progression. In addition, the combination of miR-370 and PTEN inactivated AKT, MDM2 and mTOR while stimulated caspase-3, p53 and GSK3 beta expression, promoting apoptosis and suppressing proliferation of gastric cancer cells. Therefore, our study revealed the mechanistic links between miR-370 and PTEN in the pathogenesis of gastric cancer through modulation of cell apoptosis and proliferation. Additionally, targeting miR-370 could serve as a novel strategy for future gastric cancer therapy clinically.