MicroRNA‑655 inhibits cell proliferation and invasion in epithelial ovarian cancer by directly targeting vascular endothelial growth factor.

In recent years, microRNAs (miRNAs/miRs) have been shown to be deregulated in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Their deregulation has been suggested to be involved in EOC formation and progression through the regulation of the expression of numerous cancer‑related genes. Hence, it is of great importance to further determine the detailed roles and underlying mechanisms of miRNAs involved in EOC and to identify novel targets for diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of patients with EOC. In this study, the expression of miR‑655‑3p (miR‑655) was significantly downregulated in EOC tissues and four EOC cell lines. After miR‑655 was restored, functional assays revealed that cellular proliferation and invasion were considerably reduced in EOC. Additionally, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) A was identified as a direct target gene of miR‑655 in EOC cells. Furthermore, VEGF knockdown could mimic the tumour‑suppressive roles of miR‑655 overexpression in EOC cells. Moreover, the introduction of VEGF abrogated the effects of miR‑655‑induced proliferation and invasion inhibition in EOC cells. Altogether, these findings indicated that miR‑655 may inhibit EOC cell proliferation and invasion by repressing VEGF. Thus, the miR‑655/VEGF pathway could serve as a novel therapeutic target for patients with EOC.