Gastric cancer is the fourth most common malignancy and the third leading cause of cancer‑associated deaths worldwide. It has previously been demonstrated that microRNAs (miRNAs) are actively involved in the pathogenesis of gastric cancer. Therefore, miRNAs have been proposed as promising therapeutic targets in gastric cancer patients. MiR‑744 is aberrantly expressed in different types of human cancer. However, the expression pattern and biological roles of miR‑744 in gastric cancer remain unknown. The present study demonstrated that miR‑744 expression was low in gastric cancer tissues and cell lines. Low expression levels of miR‑744 was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis, invasive depth and TNM staging in gastric cancer patients. The restoration of miR‑744 expression inhibited cell proliferation and invasion in vitro. Bioinformatic prediction, luciferase reporter assay, reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis verified that brain‑derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a direct target of miR‑744 in gastric cancer cells. Furthermore, BDNF was upregulated in gastric cancer tissues and inversely correlated with miR‑744 expression. Furthermore, enforced BDNF expression reversed the tumor‑suppressing effects of miR‑744 on the proliferation and invasion of gastric cancer cells, indicating that BDNF is a functional mediator of miR‑744 in gastric cancer. The present study suggests that miR‑744 is a potential prognostic biomarker and treatment target in gastric cancer patients.

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