Abstract: Objective： To study the expression and potential function of miR-199a in ovarian cancer occurrence and progression. Methods：Quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR（qRT-PCR） was used to detect the expression of miR-199a in 20 cases of epithelial ovarian cancers, 15 cases of benign epithelial ovarian tumors, ovary normal epithelial cell （IOSE） and ovarian cancer cells. Retrovirus expression vector pMSCVpuro-miR-199a was constructed and SKOV3 cells were transfected. CCK8 and transwell methods were used to detect the ability of proliferation and metastasis in SKOV3 cells after stably transfected with pMSCVpuro-miR-199a. Results：The mRNA expression of miR-199a in epithelial ovarian cancer group was significantly lower than that of in benign ovarian tumors （P=0.001）. Compared with IOSE cells，the miR-199a expression were down-regulated in ovarian cancer cells and expecially in SKOV3 cells（P＜0.01）. The abilities of proliferation，migration and invasion in SKOV3 cells transfected with pMSCVpuro-miR-199a were significantly lower than that in pMSCVpuro-NC SKOV3 cells（P＜0.000 1）. Conclusions：Our data suggest that the expression of miR-199a was down-regulated in ovarian cancer and miR-199a might play as an anti-oncogene in ovarian cancer proliferation and metastasis.

Key words: Ovarian neoplasms, MicroRNAs, Cell proliferation, Cell movement, Neoplasm invasiveness