【Abstract】 Objective To investigate the effect and the molecular mechanism of propofol on the proliferation, invasion and migration of gastric cancer AGS cells. Methods AGS cells were treated with propofol at 5, 10 and 20 μg/mL for 48 hours. Cell proliferation was detected by CCK-8 method. Cell cloning ability was detected by clone formation assays. Cell invasion and migration were detected by Transwell assays. Rxpression of miR-574-5p was detected by realtime fluorescence quantitative PCR and expression of SOX2 protein was detected by western blotting. The optimal concentration of propofol was screened. AGS cells were divided into control group, propofol group, propofol+miR-NC group, propofol+miR-574-5p group, propofol+si-con group, propofol+si-SOX2 group, propofol+miR-574-5p+pcDNA group, propofol+miR-574-5p+ pcDNA-SOX2 group, and the above methods were used to detect the proliferation, invasion and migration ability of AGS cells. The dual luciferase reporter gene experiment was ferformed to detect the targeting relationship between miR-574-5p and SOX2. Results The concentration of 20 μg/mL propofol was selected for the experiment. Compared with the control group, the cell survival rate, clone formation rate, migration and invasion cell numbers and miR-574-5p expression of AGS cells in the propofol group were significantly reduced, whereas SOX2 protein expression was significantly increased (P＜0.05). Compared with the propofol+miRNC group, the cell survival rate, clone formation rate, migration and invasion cell numbers and miR-574-5p expression of AGS cells were in the propofol+miR-574-5p group were significantly increased, whereas SOX2 protein expression was significantly decrease (P＜0.05). Compared with the propofol+si-con group, the cell survival rate, clone formation rate, migration and invasion cell numbers and miR-574-5p expression of AGS cells in the propofol+si-SOX2 group were significantly increased, whereas SOX2 protein expression was significantly decreased (P＜0.05). Compared with the propofol+miR-574-5p+pcDNA group, the cell survival rate, clone formation rate, migration and invasion cell numbers and miR-574-5p expression of AGS cells in the propofol+miR-574-5p+pcDNA-SOX2 group were significant decrease, whereas SOX2 protein expression was significantly increased (P＜0.05). miR-574-5p binds directly to SOX2. Conclusion Propofol inhibits the proliferation, invasion and migration of gastric cancer AGS cells by regulating the expression of miR-574-5p/SOX2.