EdU assay, flow cytometry, Transwell assay, scratch test and western blot assay were adopted to detect the proliferation, invasion, migration, apoptosis, and Bcl-2, Bax, MMP-2 and MMP-9 protein expression in glioma cells, the results presented that versus the inhibitors NC group, the proliferative, invasive and migratory capacities as well as the protein expression of Bcl-2, MMP-2 and MMP-9 were reduced, while apoptosis rate and Bax protein expression were enhanced in the miR-21 inhibitors group in U87 cells (all p < 0.05) (Fig. 2a–e). Here, MMP9 is linked to glioma.