miR-30c inhibits cell proliferation and induces apoptosis by negatively regulating ASF/SF2. (A) Western blot analysis of the protein expression of ASF/SF2 in DU145 cells with or without miR-30c mimic transfection. GAPDH was used as an internal loading control. (B) Overexpression of ASF/SF2 eliminated the effects of miR-30c on the proliferation of DU145 cells. (C) Cell cycle analysis revealed that ASF/SF2 promoted cell proliferation by increasing the S+G2 phase ratio in miR-30c-overexpressing cells. (D) miR-30c-overexpressing cells had a significantly higher percentage of apoptotic cells, whereas ASF/SF2 delayed the apoptotic effect induced by miR-30c. **P<0.01. ASF/SF2, of alternative splicing factor/splicing factor 2; miR, microRNA; siRNA, small interfering RNA; si-NC, scramble siRNA negative control; si-ASF/SF2, siRNA for ASF/SF2; vector, blank vector negative control; ASF/SF2, ASF/SF2-overexpression vector; OD, optical density.