Abstract: Objective To investigate the effects of long non coding RNA MAGI2 antisense chain RNA3 (LncRNA MAGI2-AS3) on the migration,invasion,and epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) of gastric cancer (GCa) cells by regulating the miR-194-5p/caveolin-1 (CAV1) axis.Methods Fifty-two GCa patients who underwent surgical resection in our hospital from August 2022 to December 2023 were selected.Cancer and adjacent tissues were collected,and AGS,MKN45,HGC-27,and GES1 cells were cultured in vitro.The expression of MAGI2-AS3,miR-194-5p,and CAV1 in tissue samples and cell lines was analyzed.AGS cells were randomly separated into AGS group,sh-AGS group sh-MAGI2-AS3 group,miR-NC group,and in miR-194-5p group.The proliferation,apoptosis,migration,and invasion of cells in each group were compared.Immunoblotting was applied to analyze the expression of E-cadherin,CAV1,proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA),N-cadherin,Bax,matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2),and vimentin of cells in each group.Dual luciferase assay was applied to analyze the relationship between MAGI2-AS3 and miR-194-5p,and between miR-194-5p and CAV1.Results The expression of MAGI2-AS3 mRNA,CAV1 mRNA,and positive expression rate of CAV1 protein in GCa tissue increased,while the expression of miR-194-5p mRNA decreased (P<0.05).The expression of MAGI2-AS3 mRNA,CAV1 mRNA,and CAV1 protein in HGC-27,MKN45,and AGS cells was higher than that of GES1 cells,the expression of miR-194-5p mRNA was lower than that of GES1 cells (P<0.05).Compared with the AGS and sh-AGS groups,the cell absorbance,number of clones,invasion and migration,expression of CAV1,PCNA,N-cadherin,MMP2,and vimentin in sh-MAGI2-AS3 group decreased,the apoptosis rate,expression of E-cadherin,and Bax increased (P<0.05).Compared with the miR-NC group and sh-MAGI2-AS3 group,the cell absorbance,number of clones,invasion and migration,expression of CAV1,PCNA,N-cadherin,MMP2,and vimentin in in-miR-194-5p group increased,the apoptosis rate,expression of E-cadherin,and Bax reduced (P<0.05).ENCORI database found that there were multiple binding sites between MAGI2-AS3 and miR-194-5p,and between miR-194-5p and CAV1.Compared with the WT-MAGI2-AS3+miR-NC group,the luciferase activity in the WT-MAGI2-AS3+miR-194-5p group decreased (P<0.05),while compared with the WT-CAV1+miR-NC group,the luciferase activity in the WT-CAV1+miR-194-5p group decreased (P<0.05).Conclusion LncRNA MAGI2-AS3 silencing can target miR-194-5p to downregulate CAV1,thereby inhibiting GCa cell migration,invasion,and EMT.

Key words: long non coding RNA MAGI2 antisense chain RNA3;miR-194-5p/caveolin-1 axis;gastric cancer cells;epithelial mesenchymal transition