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Cervical cancer is the second most common type of cancer among women worldwide and a leading cause of mortality in women. Metastases reduce the overall survival rate in patients with cervical cancer. Thus, it is clinically urgent to investigate the molecular mechanism of cervical cancer metastasis. The aim of the present study was to investigate the mechanism of microRNA (miR)-378 in the metastasis of cervical cancer. In the present study, miR-378 expression levels were significantly upregulated in cervical cancer tissues and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia III tissues when compared with normal cervix tissues. Re-expression of miR-378 significantly promoted tumor migration and invasion in vitro, and metastasis in vivo, while downregulation of miR-378 suppressed the effect in vitro. Luciferase reporter assay revealed that autophagy-related protein 12 (ATG12) was a direct target of miR-378 and its expression was downregulated by miR-378. In cervical cancer tissues with lymph node metastasis, miR-378 was upregulated while ATG12 was downregulated when compared with lymph node negative cases. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to provide evidence that miR-378 may be associated with ATG12. Collectively, the data of the present study suggested that miR-378 may function as an oncogene by promoting metastasis in cervical cancer. The finding that miR-378 targets ATG12 indicated that miR-378 may have a potential role in autophagy. These findings may provide novel insights into the mechanism of metastasis in cervical cancer and a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of cervical cancer.

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