Abstract: Objective To investigate the effect of miR-183 on the cell proliferation in SW1990 pancreatic cancer cell line by targeting programmed cell death factor 4(PDCD4). Methods The SW1990 pancreatic cancer cells were transfected with miR-183 mimics and inhibitors at different concentrations, the alteration of PDCD4 levels was observed at specific concentrations by qPCR and Western blot. The cellular proliferation of transfected cells was determined by MTT assay. The distribution of cell cycle and apoptosis was examined by flow cytometry (FCM) and Hoechst 33258 staining. The expression of B-cell lymphoma （bcl-2） was evaluated by Western blot. Results The miR-183 mimic and inhibitor (at concentrations of 50 nmol/L or 150 nmol/L) showed significantly increasing or decreasing effects on the levels ofmiR-183 respectively. The expression of PDCD4 was downregulated in the cells transfected with miR-183 mimics, while significantly upregulated in the cells treated with miR-183 inhibitors. Western blot showed that miR-183 inhibitors resulted in a marked decrease in the expression levels of bcl-2. The growth of SW1990 cells was obviously inhibited after anti-miR-183 treatment, while an increase of apoptosis cells proportion and cell cycle G₀/G₁ arrest were observed after miR-183 inhibitors transfection. Conclusion The miR-183 inhibitors could restrain cell proliferation, promote cell apoptosis and increase G₀/G₁ arrest in SW1990 pancreatic cancer cells, which may be possibly through targeting PDCD4.