Upregulation of microRNA-132 in gastric cancer promotes cell proliferation via retinoblastoma 1 targeting.

Gastric cancer is one of the most frequent malignancies and a leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. MicroRNAs (miRs), a class of small non‑coding RNAs, have been shown to be critical in tumorigenesis. In the present study, the expression levels of miR‑132 were analyzed in gastric cancer samples using quantitative reverse transcription‑polymerase chain reaction. In addition, the cell viability, proliferation and invasion abilities were determined in two gastric cancer cell lines, NCI‑N87 and MGC80‑3, that were transfected with miR‑132 mimics or antisense oligos. It was found that miR‑132 expression was significantly upregulated in gastric cancer tissues when compared with adjacent non‑cancerous tissues. At the molecular level, the data demonstrated that miR‑132 inhibits the protein levels of retinoblastoma 1 (RB1) by targeting the 3'‑untranslated region. Furthermore, reintroduction of RB1 markedly attenuated the proliferative roles of miR‑132 overexpression. Therefore, the present results indicate that the miR‑132/RB1 regulatory axis may be a potential novel diagnostic and therapeutic target for the treatment of gastric cancer.