MicroRNA-218 enhances gastric cancer cell cisplatin sensitivity by targeting survivin

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most prevalent types of cancer worldwide. Cisplatin based chemotherapy is the primary strategy implemented for the treatment of G; however, chemoresistance is a major problem. Previous studies have indicated that microRNAs (miRs) are associated with chemoresistance in various types of cancer and that miR-218 specifically, serves important roles in the growth of GC cells. The present study assessed the potential biological roles of miR-218 in GC cell cisplatin (DDP) resistance. The results obtained from a polymerase chain reaction assay indicated that the expression of miR-218 was decreased in cisplatin resistant SGC7901/DDP cells compared with SGC7901 cells. Furthermore, MTT results indicated that the upregulation of miR-218 expression significantly enhanced SGC7901/DDP cell sensitivity to DDP. The results of a dual-luciferase assay indicated that survivin was a direct target gene of miR-218. Results also demonstrated that miR-218 was overexpressed in SGC7901/DDP cells and that the downregulation of survivin expression enhanced SGC7901/DDP cell sensitivity to DDP. Further study demonstrated that the upregulation of miR-218 decreased the expression of survivin in SGC7901/DDP cells and induced apoptosis. The findings of the present study indicated that the induction of miR-218 enhanced GC cell DDP resistance via the regulation of survivin, which may potentially benefit the clinical treatment of GC in the future.