The present study characterized the expression and function of long non-coding RNA growth arrest specific 5 (GAS5) in GSCs in order to elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which GAS5 contributes to glioma pathogenesis. We demonstrate that GAS5 suppresses GSC malignancy by binding to miR-196a-5p. miR-196a-5p, an onco-miRNA, stimulates GSC proliferation, migration, and invasion, in addition to reducing levels of apoptosis. miR-196a-5p specifically downregulates the expression of forkhead box protein O1 (FOXO1) by targeting its 3â?² untranslated region (3â?²-UTR). FOXO1 upregulates expression of phosphotyrosine interaction domain containing 1 (PID1), thereby inhibiting GSC tumorigenicity and growth. FOXO1 also upregulates migration and invasion inhibitory protein(MIIP), resulting in attenuation of migration and invasion activities. Interestingly, we also show that FOXO1 promotes GAS5 transcription, thus forminga positive feedback loop.