Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignant tumors worldwide. Emerging evidence has shown that abnormal microRNAs (miRNAs) expression is involved in tumorigenesis. MiR-329 was previously reported to act as a tumor suppressor or oncogene in some types of cancer. However, its function in gastric cancer (GC) is unclear. Here, we found that miR-329 was down-regulated in GC compared with adjacent controls. Enforced expression of miR-329 inhibited proliferation, migration and invasion of gastric cancer cells in vitro. We identified T lymphoma invasion and metastasis 1 (TIAM1) gene as potential target of miR-329. MiR-329 levels inversely correlated with TIAM1 expression in GC. Importantly, TIAM1 rescued the miR-329-mediated inhibition of cell invasion and proliferation. Finally, reintroduction of miR-329 significantly inhibited tumor formation of GC in the xenograft mice. Our findings suggest that miR-329 is a tumor suppressor and potential therapeutic target of GC.
Keywords: TIAM1; gastric cancer; miR-329; microRNAs.