Objective To investigate the effects of circRNA_0000885 (circ_0000885) on the proliferation and apoptosis of AGS cells in gastric cancer and its molecular mechanism.

Methods The tissues of 30 cases of gastric cancer and corresponding adjacent tissues were selected. Human normal gastric mucosa cells GES-1 and gastric cancer cell lines AGS, HGC-27, N87, SNU-484 were cultured in vitro. AGS cells were divided into NC group, si-NC group, si-circ_0000885 group, MicroRNA(miR)-NC group, miR-944 group, si-circ_0000885+anti-miR-NC group and si-circ_0000885+anti-miR-944 group. The expression levels of circ_0000885 and miR-944 were detected by reverse transcriptionreal-time quantitative polymerasechain reaction (RT-qPCR); the cell activity, apoptosis and expression of related proteins were detected by MTT, flow cytometry and Western blot, respectively; the dual luciferase reporter gene assay was used to detect the targeting relationship between circ_0000885 and miR-944.

Results Compared with adjacent tissues, the expression of circ_0000885 in gastric cancer tissues was significantly increased, and the expression of miR-944 was significantly decreased (P < 0.05). Compared with GES-1 cells, the expression of circ_0000885 in gastric cancer cell lines AGS, HGC-27, N87, SNU-484 was significantly increased, and the expression of miR-944 was significantly decreased (P < 0.05). Knockdown circ_0000885 or overexpression of miR-944 decreased OD value, proliferated cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and Bcl-2 protein levels, and increased apoptosis rate and Bax protein levels in AGS cells (P < 0.05). The circ_0000885 targeted miR-944 expression, and down-regulation of miR-944 reversed the effects of circ_0000885 knockdown on proliferation and apoptosis of AGS cells (P < 0.05).

Conclusion Knockdown of circ_0000885 inhibits the proliferation of AGS cells and promotes apoptosis by targeting up-regulation of miR-944.