The objective of this study was to investigate the role of miR-29 in ovarian carcinoma progression. Cell proliferation was measured with a cell counter. mRNA expression of miR-29, phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) was measured by RT-PCR. Protein expression was detected by Western blot. The results demonstrated that miR-29 expression was upregulated in ovarian carcinoma and that miR-29 promoted cell proliferation. Consistently, miR-29 silencing decreased ovarian carcinoma cell proliferation. Mechanistically, we found PTEN expression was decreased following miR-29 overexpression and PTEN expression was increased following miR-29 silencing. Importantly, overexpression of PTEN was sufficient to inhibit ovarian carcinoma cell proliferation, demonstrating a key role for PTEN downstream of miR-29. Therefore, our study highlights the miR-29-PTEN pathway as a critical mediator of ovarian cancer cell proliferation, providing a new therapeutic target for patients with ovarian carcinoma.