Abstract: Objective　To investigate the effects of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) LINC01123 on the proliferation, migration and invasion of cervical carcinoma (CC) cells and its possible mechanism. Methods　The differentially expressed lncRNA in CC tissues was analyzed in the GEPIA database. The human CC cell lines SiHa, HeLa, CaSki and human normal cervical epithelial cells HcerEpic were cultured in vitro. The real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR (qPCR) was used to detect the expression levels of LINC01123 and microRNA-449a (miR-449a) in cells. The CaSki cells in logarithmic growth phase were divided into the control group (NC group), the pcDNA3.1-NC group, the LINC01123 overexpression group, the si-NC group, the LINC01123 silence group, the LINC01123 silence+inhibitor-NC group and the LINC01123 silence+ miR-449a inhibitor group. After 48 hours of transfection, the cells of each group were collected and real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR (qPCR) was used to detect the transfection effect. CCK-8 method was used to detect cell viability. Flow cytometry was used to analyze the cell apoptosis. Scratch healing test and Transwell chamber experiment were used to detect cell migration and invasion ability. Western blot assay was used to detect the expression of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)/cellular-mesenchymal epithelial transition factor (c-MET) pathway related proteins in cells. The dual luciferase reporter gene was used to verify the targeting relationship between LINC01123 and miR-449a. Results　The expression levels of LINC01123 in CC tissues and cells were significantly increased, while the expression of miR-449a was low in human CC cells (P＜0.05). Compared with the NC group, the LINC01123 expression, cell proliferation activity, migration and invasion ability, HGF expression and p-c-MET/c-MET ratio were significantly decreased in the LINC01123 silence group, the miR-449a expression and apoptosis rate were significantly increased (P＜0.05). The down-regulated expression of miR-449a could significantly reduce the inhibitory effect of LINC01123 silencing on the proliferation, migration and invasion of CaSki cells (P＜0.05). The result of dual luciferase test showed that miR-449a was the target gene of LINC01123. Conclusion　Silencing LINC01123 can inhibit the activation of HGF/c-MET signaling pathway and inhibit the growth and metastasis of CC cells by up-regulating the expression of miR-449a.