miR-218 inhibits the invasion and migration of colon cancer cells by targeting the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.

Colon cancer is one of the most common and lethal malignancies worldwide. Despite major advances in the treatment of colon cancer, the prognosis remains very poor. Thus, novel and effective therapies for colon cancer are urgently needed. In the present study, the expression status of miR-218 and the role of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway were investigated in colon cancer samples. Firstly, we observed that miR-218 expression was significantly reduced, while PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway activity was enhanced. The overexpression of miR-218 suppressed the proliferation, migration and invasion of LoVo colon cancer cells, whereas the inhibition of miR-218 promoted these processes. Furthermore, the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway was identified as a direct target of miR-218. The upregulation of miR-218 inhibited the activation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway, as well as the expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)9. The downregulation of miR-218 activated the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway and promoted MMP9 expression. Taken together, our results demonstrate that miR-218 suppresses the proliferation, migration and invasion of LoVo colon cancer cells by targeting the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway and MMP9. Our data indicate that miR-218 is a potential target in the treatment of colon cancer.