Objective To investigate the effect of miR-497 over-expression on the proliferation of U87 human glioma cells. Methods We packaged both pGLV3/H1-NC lentivirus as a negative control group and pGLV3/H1-miR-497 lentivirus as an experimental group, and then constructed U87-NC and U87-miR-497 cell lines, respectively. The relationship between miR-497 and neuregulin receptor degradation protein 1 (Nrdp1) was analyzed by luciferase reporter assay in U87 cells; cell colony formation assay was used to detect cell proliferation and flow cytometry to detect cell cycle; the expressions of Nrdp1, AKT and phosphorylated AKT (p-AKT) were determined by Western blotting. Results We successfully packaged pGLV3/H1-NC and pGLV3/H1-miR-497 lentivirus, and obtained stable U87-NC and U87-miR-497 cell lines. When miR-497 was over-expressed in U87 cells, the cell colony formation ability was enhanced compared with the control group U87-NC. The luciferase reporter assay confirmed that miR-497 targeted Nrdp1 in U87 cells. In the stable infected cells, the level of Nrdp1 protein decreased and p-AKT protein increased, while the AKT protein did not change significantly after over-expression of miR-497. Conclusion Over-expression of miR-497 promotes the proliferation of glioma cells U87 by targeting Nrdp1.