MicroRNA (miR)-613 has been reported to function as a tumor suppressor in several types of cancer. However, the biological function and underlying mechanism in gastric cancer (GC) has remained elusive. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to assess the expression and biological role of miR-613 in GC tissues and cell lines. miR-613 expression was found to be downregulated in 38 GC tissue samples compared to that in their adjacent non-cancerous tissues, and low expression of miR-613 was associated with lymph node metastasis and advanced tumor-nodes-metastasis stage. A gain-of-function assay demonstrated that miR-613 overexpression reduced tumor cell proliferation, migration and invasion of SGC-7901 cells, as determined by MTT and Transwell assays. Furthermore, brain-derived neutrophic factor (BDNF) was identified as a direct target of miR-613 in GC cells by a luciferase reporter assay. BDNF expression was upregulated and inversely correlated with miR-613 levels in GC tissues. In addition, knockdown of BDNF expression mimicked the tumor suppressive effect of miR-613 in GC cells. In conclusion, these findings demonstrated that miR-613 functions as a tumor suppressor in GC by targeting BDNF. Thus, miR-613 is a potential therapeutic target for GC.
Keywords: brain-derived neurotrophic factor; gastric cancer; invasion; miR-613; proliferation.