piR-823, a novel non-coding small RNA, demonstrates in vitro and in vivo tumor suppressive activity in human gastric cancer cells.

Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), new non-coding small RNAs, are association with chromatin organization, messenger RNA stability and genome structure. However, the roles of piRNA in carcinogenesis are not clearly defined. By using real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction technology, we found that the expression level of piR-823 in gastric cancer tissues was significant lower than that in non-cancerous tissues. After increase the level of piR-823 in gastric cancer cells, cell growth was inhibited. The results of xenograft nude mice model confirmed its tumor suppressive properties. All of the evidences indicated that piR-823 play a crucial role in the occult of gastric cancer.