TY - JOUR ID - 29443 TI - MiR-421 Regulates Apoptosis of BGC-823 Gastric Cancer Cells by Targeting Caspase-3 JO - Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention JA - APJCP LA - en SN - 1513-7368 Y1 - 2014 PY - 2014 VL - 15 IS - 13 SP - 5463 EP - 5468 KW - Gastric cancer KW - MiR-421 KW - caspase-3 KW - Apoptosis DO - N2 - MicroRNAs might act as oncogenes or tumor suppressors in cancer. Recent studies have shown that miR-421 is up-regulated in human gastric cancer. Here, we found that miR‑421 was over-expressed in gastric cancer tissues and cell lines. Bioinformatics analysis predicted that the caspase-3 gene was a target of miR-421. Caspase-3 was negatively regulated by miR-421 at the post-transcriptional level. Bax and Bcl-2 were also regulated by miR-421. Moreover, tumor necrosis factor receptor-I and -II, death receptors in the apoptosis pathway, were up-regulated by miR-421. The over-expression of miR-421 promoted gastric cancer cell growth and inhibited apoptosis of the BGC-823 gastric cancer cell line. These observations indicate that miR-421 acts as a tumor promoter by targetingthe caspase-3 gene and preventing apoptosis of gastric cancer cells through inhibition of caspase-3 expression. These findings contribute to our understanding of the functions of miR-421 in gastric cancer. UR - https://journal.waocp.org/article_29443.html L1 - https://journal.waocp.org/article_29443_aa65af8bd953e5ef341e4bdb7820d1e4.pdf ER -