Page 176 - ebook

[B. Cell Biology/Stem Cell] B-23

miR-181a regulates cancer stemness in triple-negative breast

cancer via regulation of ATG5 and/or ATG2B

Jee Won Park¹ , Yesol Kim¹ , Je Yeong Ko¹ , Soo-been Lee¹, Yejin Ko¹, Jiwon Baek¹, Minyeong Lee¹, Jong
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Hoon Park¹*
¹Department of Biological Science, Sookmyung Women's University, Seoul 04310, Korea

Cancer stemness, microRNA (miRNA) and autophagy flux are known to contribute to the maintenance of cancers,

but the precise mechanism between autophagy, miRNAs and cancer stemness requires further investigation. In this
study, we found that autophagy flux was inhibited in cancer stem cells (CSCs) of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).

Moreover, miRNA-181a (miR-181a) expression was upregulated both in TNBC CSCs and patient tissues. Inhibition
of miR-181a expression led to attenuation of TNBC stemness and an increase in autophagy flux via increasing

autophagy related 5 (ATG5) and autophagy related 2B (ATG2B) expression. Furthermore, treatment of curcumin
known as autophagy inducer decreased cancer stemness properties of TNBC cells and inhibition of miR-181a

expression enhanced the tumor suppressive effect of curcumin. Therefore, this study identified the tumor
suppressive effect of autophagy regulated by miR-181a on TNBC stemness, which could provide a new evidence of

miRNA-regulated autophagy and potential therapeutic approach for TNBC.