MicroRNA (miR)-202 has been reported to be involved in the regulation of human
cancer progression including
bladder cancer,
non-small cell lung cancer,
pancreatic cancer and
esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. However, the function of miR-202 in
prostate cancer remains largely unknown. The present study demonstrated that miR-202 was downregulated in human
prostate cancer tissues and cell lines. And overexpression of miR-202 significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of
prostate cancer cells, but induced cell apoptosis. Moreover, miR-202 suppressed
tumor growth in vivo. Regarding the underlying mechanism, it was revealed that phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase catalytic subunit α (PIK3CA) was a target gene of miR-202 in
prostate cancer cells. Overexpression of miR-202 inhibited the
mRNA and
protein levels of PIK3CA in
prostate cancer cells. Moreover, overexpression of PIK3CA abolished the inhibitory effects of miR-202 on
prostate cancer cell proliferation, migration and invasion in vitro. Taken together, these findings demonstrated that miR-202 served as a
tumor suppressor in
prostate cancer by directly targeting PIK3CA.