Abstract. has been previously reported to be downregulated in specific types of cancer, including colorectal, bladder, oral squamous cell, pituitary, cervical, nasopharyngeal, lymphoma and prostate cancer. In the present study, the effects of miR-143 on prostate cancer cell migration and invasion were examined. Following transfection with miR-143, miR-143 expression, cell migration and invasion assays, luciferase assay and western blot analysis were conducted in prostate cancer cell lines. The results indicated that miR-143 inhibits cell migration and invasion in DU145 and PC-3 cells. In addition, to the best of our knowledge, miR-143 was reported for the first time to directly target matrix metalloproteinase 13 (MMP-13) in prostate cancer. The results of the present study demonstrated that miR-143 suppresses cell migration and invasion by targeting MMP-13 in prostate cancer cell lines. These results indicated that miR-143 may be suitable for the development of novel molecular markers and therapeutic approaches to inhibit metastasis in prostate cancer.