miR-496 inhibits proliferation via LYN and AKT pathway in gastric cancer

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) operate as tumor suppressor or carcinogen to regulate cell proliferation, metastasis, invasion, differentiation, apoptosis, and metabolic process. In the present research, we investigated the effect and mechanism of miR-496 in human gastric cancer cells. miR-496 was downregulated in two gastric cancer cell lines, AGS and MKN45, compared with normal gastric epithelial cell line GES-1. miR-496 mimics inhibited the proliferation of AGS cells after the transfection for 48 and 72 h. The migration and invasion of AGS cells were also inhibited by the transfection of miR-496 mimics. miR-496 mimics induced the apoptosis through upregulating the levels of Bax and Active Caspase 3 and downregulating the levels of Bcl-2 and Total Caspase 3. Bioinformatics analysis showed that there was a binding site between miR-496 and Lyn kinase (LYN). miR-496 mimics could inhibit the expression of LYN in AGS cells. LYN overexpression blocked the inhibition of tumor cell growth, as well as the inhibition of AKT/mTOR signaling pathway induced by miR-496. In conclusion, miR-496 inhibited the proliferation through the AKT/mTOR signaling pathway via targeting LYN in gastric cancer cells. Our research provides a new potential target for clinical diagnosis and targeted treatment for gastric cancer.