The present study aimed to measure the expression of microRNA (miRNA/miR) ‑429 in gastric cancer and investigate the associated mechanism of action. A total of 30 patients with gastric cancer who received radical or palliative resection at Jining No. 1 People's Hospital between January‑October 2016 were included in the present study. Resected gastric cancer and tumor‑adjacent tissues were resected. Gastric cancer BGC‑823 cells were transfected with miR‑429 mimics to induce the overexpression of miR‑429, or transfected with small interfering (si)RNA of heparanase (HPSE) for the silencing of HPSE. Reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to measure the expression of miR‑429 or HPSE mRNA. Western blotting was employed to determine the protein expression of HPSE. Cell‑Counting Kit‑8 assay was carried out to test cell proliferation and a Transwell assay was used to determine cell invasion ability. Expression of HPSE mRNA and protein in gastric cancer tissues was increased compared with tumor‑adjacent tissues. Reduced expression of miR‑429 in gastric cancer tissues may be associated with the targeting of HPSE mRNA by miR‑429. Overexpression of miR‑429 inhibited the transcription and translation of the HPSE gene. However, overexpression of miR‑429 did not affect the proliferation of gastric cancer cells. Notably, overexpression of miR‑429 reduced the invasion ability of gastric cancer cells. Transfection with HPSE siRNA decreased the expression of the HPSE protein in BGC‑823 cells and inhibited the occurrence and development of gastric cancer by reducing the invasion ability of the cells. The present study demonstrated that expression of miR‑429 in gastric cancer tissues was significantly reduced compared with tumor‑adjacent tissues. As a tumor‑suppressor gene, miR‑429 decreases the invasion ability of gastric cancer cells by downregulating the expression of HSPE.

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