miR-106a is frequently upregulated in gastric cancer and inhibits the extrinsic apoptotic pathway by targeting FAS.

Emerging evidence has shown the association of aberrantly expressed miR-106a with cancer development, however, little is known about its potential role in gastric carcinogenesis. In our present study, obviously overexpressed miR-106a was found in gastric cancer tissues compared with their nontumor counterparts. Suppression of miR-106a significantly inhibited gastric cancer cell proliferation and triggered apoptosis. Bioinformatic analysis combining with validation experiments identified FAS as a direct target of miR-106a. Rescue experiments and examination of caspase-8, PARP and caspase-3 further approved that miR-106a could inhibit gastric cancer cell apoptosis through interfering with FAS-mediated apoptotic pathway. Moreover, a significant inverse correlation was found between miR-106a and FAS expression not only in gastric cancer cell lines but also in gastric cancer specimens. Taken together, these findings suggest that ectopicly overexpressed miR-106a may play an oncogenic role in gastric carcinogenesis and impair extrinsic apoptotic pathway through targeting FAS.