Imani Saber, Wei Chunli, Cheng Jingliang, Khan Md Asaduzzaman, Fu Shangyi, Yang Luquan, Tania Mousumi, Zhang Xianqin, Xiao Xiuli, Zhang Xianning, Fu Junjiang
Key Laboratory of Epigenetics and Oncology, Research Center for Precision Medicine, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, China.
Chemical Injuries Research Center, Baqiyatallah Medical Sciences University (BMSU), Tehran, Iran.
Oncotarget. 2017 Mar 28;8(13):21362-21379. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.15214.
MicroRNA-34a (miR-34a) plays an essential role against tumorigenesis and progression of cancer metastasis. Here, we analyzed the expression, targets and functional effects of miR-34a on epithelial to mesenchymal transition-inducing transcription factors (EMT-TFs), such as TWIST1, SLUG and ZEB1/2, and an EMT-inducing protein NOTCH1 in breast cancer (BC) cell migration and invasion and its correlation with tumorigenesis and clinical outcomes. Expression of miR-34a is downregulated in human metastatic breast cancers (MBC) compared to normal breast tissues and is negatively correlated with clinicopathological features of MBC patients. Ectopic expression of miR-34a in MBC cell-line BT-549 significantly inhibits cell migration and invasion, but exhibits no clear effect on BC cell growth. We found that miR-34a is able to inactivate EMT signaling pathway with mediatory of NOTCH1, TWIST1, and ZEB1 upon 3'-UTR activity in MBC cell lines, but has no inhibitory effects on SLUG and ZEB2. Furthermore, we investigated the synergistic effects of Thymoquinone (TQ) and miR-34a together on the expression of EMT-associated proteins. Results showed that co-delivery of miR-34a and TQ is able to inactivate EMT signaling pathway by directly targeting TWIST1 and ZEB1 in BT-549 cell line, indicating that they might be a promising therapeutic combination against breast cancer metastasis. Epigenetic inactivation of the EMT-TFs/miR-34a pathway can potentially alter the equilibrium of these regulations, facilitating EMT and metastasis in BC. Altogether, our findings suggest that miR-34a alone could serve as a potential therapeutic agent for MBC, and together with TQ, their therapeutic potential is synergistically enhanced.
微小RNA-34a(miR-34a)在对抗肿瘤发生和癌症转移进展中起着至关重要的作用。在此,我们分析了miR-34a在乳腺癌(BC)细胞迁移和侵袭过程中对上皮-间质转化诱导转录因子(EMT-TFs),如TWIST1、SLUG和ZEB1/2,以及一种EMT诱导蛋白NOTCH1的表达、靶点和功能影响,及其与肿瘤发生和临床结果的相关性。与正常乳腺组织相比,miR-34a在人类转移性乳腺癌(MBC)中的表达下调,且与MBC患者的临床病理特征呈负相关。在MBC细胞系BT-549中异位表达miR-34a可显著抑制细胞迁移和侵袭,但对BC细胞生长无明显影响。我们发现,在MBC细胞系中,miR-34a在3'-UTR活性的介导下能够通过NOTCH1、TWIST1和ZEB1使EMT信号通路失活,但对SLUG和ZEB2无抑制作用。此外,我们研究了百里醌(TQ)和miR-34a共同对EMT相关蛋白表达的协同作用。结果表明,在BT-549细胞系中共同递送miR-34a和TQ能够通过直接靶向TWIST1和ZEB1使EMT信号通路失活,表明它们可能是对抗乳腺癌转移的一种有前景的治疗组合。EMT-TFs/miR-34a通路的表观遗传失活可能会潜在地改变这些调节的平衡,促进BC中的EMT和转移。总之,我们的研究结果表明,单独的miR-34a可作为MBC的一种潜在治疗剂,与TQ一起,它们的治疗潜力会协同增强。