Oxymatrine inhibits proliferation and apoptosis of human breast cancer cells through the regulation of miRNA-140-5P

Oxymatrine has shown strong anti-cancer ability, but its mechanism is not well-studied. The inhibitory rates of oxymatrine with various concentrations (0, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 32 mg/ml) on MCF-7 cells were detected by CCK-8. The effects of oxymatrine on the expression of miRNA-140-5P in MCF-7 cells were detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR (RT-PCR). miRNA-140-5P mimics or NC mimics were transfected into cells using Lipofectamine 2000. Eventually, the cells were divided into control-group, drug-group, miRNA-140-5P mimics group, NC mimics group, and miRNA-140-5P mimics + drug group. Cell viability was detected by CCK-8 assay and apoptosis rate of each group were measured by using Flow cytometry. Western blot was carried out to detect the protein expression of TGFBR1 and FGF9. Oxymatrine at various concentrations had conspicuous inhibitory effect on the proliferation of MCF-7 cells ( ), and the inhibitory effect of oxymatrine on MCF-7 cells showed both dose- and time-dependent manners. The relative expression of miRNA-140-5P in MCF cells was remarkably lower than that in MCF-10A. Oxymatrine could effectively promote the expression of miRNA-140-5P in MCF-7 cells, and the relative expression of miRNA-140-5P increased significantly with the increased dose of oxymatrine ( ). Both transfection of miRNA-140-5P mimics and oxymatrine treatment could reduce the proliferation of MCF-7 cells ( ), and the proliferation of cells in miRNA-140-5P mimics + drug-group was significantly lower than that of other groups ( ). Compared with the control-group, the protein expressions of TGFbR1 and FGF9 in low-dose, medium-dose and high-dose groups were dramatically decreased ( ), in a dose-dependent manner ( ). Oxymatrine inhibits proliferation and promotes cell apoptosis of breast cancer MCF-7 cells. The mechanism may contribute to the regulation of miRNA-140-5p and its target genes.