Background and purpose: Bioinformatics analysis showed that GATA

6 was a potential target gene for miR-203a-3p. This study aimed to determine whether miR-203a-3p could inhibit proliferation and invasion of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) cells by targeting GATA6. Methods: Transient transfection was performed with Lipofectamine

TM

RNAiMAX in cultured KYSE-70 and KYSE-180 cell lines. The expressions of miR-203a-3p and GATA6 were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RTFQ-PCR). GATA6 protein expression was detected by Western blot. The relative luciferase activity was further detected by dual-luciferase reporter assay after co-transfection with plasmid by FuGENE reagent. The expression levels of miR-203a-3p and GATA6 in esophageal malignant and dysplastic tissues were determined by RTFQ-PCR after microdissection of specimens. Results: The RTFQ-PCR and Western blot results showed that

compared with the control group

the expression levels of GATA6 mRNA and protein were significantly decreased in miR-203a-3p mimic transfection group

while significantly increased in the miR-203a-3p inhibitor transfection group (P0.05). The expression levels of GATA6 and miR-203a-3p were inversely correlated. Compared with the control group

the cell proliferation viability in the KYSE-70 cell line was decreased in the miR-203a-3p mimic transfection group

while increased in the miR-203a-3p transfection group

which was statistically significant (P0.05). Although it did not reach statistical significance in the KYSE-180 cell line

its trend was consistent with that of the KYSE-70 cell line. Compared with the control group

the relative number of invasive cell per field in the miR-203a-3p mimic transfection group decreased significantly (P0.01)

while increased in the miR-203a-3p inhibitor transfection group (P0.05)

which had significant statistical significance. Compared with miR-203a-3p scrambled + GATA6 wild type group and miR-203a-3p wild type +GATA6 mutant group

relative luciferase enzyme activity in miR-203a-3p wild type+GATA6 in wild

type group significantly decreased (P0.05). Compared with the dysplastic tissues

the miR-203a-3p expression in esophageal malignant tissues decreased in all the ESCC patients

while GATA6 expression level increased. Conclusion: miR-203a-3p could inhibit the proliferation and invasion ability of ESCC by targeting GATA6.