MicroRNA-106b in cancer-associated fibroblasts from gastric cancer promotes cell migration and invasion by targeting PTEN

•MiR-106b is up-regulated in CAFs compared to NFs in gastric cancer.•Down-regulation of miR-106b in CAFs inhibits cancer cell motility by targeting PTEN.•MiR-106b might be a potential therapeutic target for gastric cancer.

It is well established that the interaction between cancer cells and microenvironment has a critical role in tumor development, but the roles of miRNAs in this interaction are rarely known. Here, we have shown that miR-106b is up-regulated in cancer associated fibroblasts compared with normal fibroblasts established from patients with gastric cancer, the expression level of miR-106b is associated with poor prognosis of patients, and CAFs with down-regulated miR-106b could significantly inhibit gastric cancer cell migration and invasion by targeting PTEN. Taken together, these data suggest that miR-106b might be a novel candidate target for the treatment of gastric cancer.