miR-760 mediates chemoresistance through inhibition of epithelial mesenchymal transition in breast cancer cells

S.-H. Hu, C.-H. Wang, Z.-J. Huang, F. Liu, C.-W. Xu, X.-L. Li, G.-Q. Chen

Department of Clinical Laboratory, Affiliated Hospital of Dali University, Dali, China. cguoqing@yeah.net

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• Pharmacology

OBJECTIVE: Therapeutic resistance has been a great obstacle for successful treatment of breast cancer. Our study aimed to explore the role of microRNA-760 (miR-760) in chemoresistant breast cancer cells.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Real-time PCR was performed to measure the mRNA expression of miR-760 and Nanog. Western blot was used to determine the protein expression of Nanog and mesenchymal and epithelial markers. Cell viability was measured by the CCK-8 assay.

RESULTS: Our results showed that the expression of miR-760 was significantly reduced the doxorubicin (DOX)-resistant MCF-7/DOX cells and chemoresistant breast cancer tissues. Moreover, up-regulation of miR-760 sensitized breast cancer cells to the anti-cancer agents. The MCF-7/DOX cells exhibited increased expression of Snail, a mesenchymal marker, and decreased levels of E-Cadherin, an epithelial marker. In addition, overexpression of miR-760 suppressed the expression of Nanog, a transcriptional factor involved in chemoresistance, and resulted in the reversal of EMT in breast cancer cells.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated that miR-760 modulated chemoresistance through the epithelial-mesenchymal transition in breast cancer cells, providing a potential therapeutic target for treatment of drug-resistant breast cancer.

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