cerebral ischemia is a common cerebrovascular disease caused by the occlusion of a cerebral blood vessel. Micrornas (mirnas/mirs) are emerging regulators of various human diseases, including cerebral ischemia. upregulation of mir-183-5p has been reported to alleviate liver injury induced by ischemia-reperfusion (i/r). However, the effect of mir-183-5p on cerebral ischemia injury remains unknown. The present study evaluated the effects of mir-183-5p on ischemia injury using ischemic models of mouse brains exposed to transient middle cerebral artery occlusion and neuro-2a (n2a) neuroblastoma cells exposed to oxygen-glucose-deprivation (oGd) and subsequently reoxygenated. ischemia was evaluated in mice using neurological function scores, cerebral edema, 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazoliumchloride, nissl and Fluoro-Jade B staining assays. in addition, mir-183-5p expression, n2a cell viability and the expression levels of apoptosis-associated proteins were detected by quantitative Pcr, cell counting Kit-8 assay, flow cytometry and western blotting. The association between mir-183-5p and phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) was also confirmed by a luciferase reporter assay. The results revealed that mir-183-5p expression was decreased and brain damage was increased in ischemic mice compared with the sham group. additionally, mir-183-5p levels were reduced, and apoptosis was increased in n2a cells exposed to ischemia compared with the control group. Following transfection with agomir-183-5p, cerebral ischemic injury and apoptosis levels were reduced in the in vivo i/r stroke model and oGd-induced n2a cells. in addition, PTen was determined to be a target of mir-183-5p following elucidation of a direct binding site. overexpression of PTen reversed the mir-183-5p-induced n2a cell apoptosis inhibition and survival after oGd. The results of the present study suggested that mir-183-5p reduced ischemic injury by negatively regulating PTen, which may aid the development of a novel therapeutic strategy for cerebral ischemia.