AIM: To investigate the relationship between semaphorin 7a expression and cell proliferation and migration in pterygium fibroblasts. METHODS: Twenty-six patients with surgically diagnosed pterygium were enrolled, including 15 cases of primary pterygium and 11 cases of recurrent pterygium. In addition, 12 cases of normal conjunctival tissue were collected. The expression of semaphorin 7a in normal conjunctival tissue, primary pterygium and recurrent pterygium was detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Recurrent pterygium fibroblasts were isolated and cultured, and the expression of semaphorin 7a was silenced by small interfering RNA (siRNA) interference technique. Furthermore, the effects of si-semaphorin 7a interference on the mRNA and protein levels of β1-integrin, vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR), and on fibroblast proliferation were analyzed. Transwell assay was used to detect the effect of semaphorin 7a interference on fibroblast migration. RESULTS: Semaphorin 7a was highly expressed in the primary pterygium and recurrent pterygium samples than that of the normal conjunctival tissue. Compared with the primary pterygium, the expression of semaphoring 7a in the recurrent pterygium samples was significantly increased (P<0.05). The mRNA and protein expression levels of β1-integrin, VEGFA and VEGFR were decreased after si-semaphorin 7a transfection, and as well as the cell proliferation and migration. CONCLUSION: Semaphorin 7a might play important roles in the pathogenesis of pterygium by affecting the expression of β1-integrin, VEGFA and VEGFR.