Pterostilbene–isothiocyanate reduces miR-21 level by impeding Dicer-mediated processing of pre-miR-21 in 5-fluorouracil and tamoxifen-resistant human breast cancer cell lines

Converging evidences identifies that microRNA-21 (miR-21) is responsible for drug resistance in breast cancer. This study aims to evaluate the miR-21-modulatory potential of a hybrid compound, pterostilbene–isothiocyanate (PTER–ITC), in tamoxifen-resistant MCF-7 (TR/MCF-7) and 5-fluorouracil-resistant MDA-MB 231 (5-FUR/MDA-MB 231) breast cancer cell lines, established by repeated exposure to gradually increasing the concentrations of tamoxifen and 5-fluorouracil, respectively. The outcome of this study shows that PTER–ITC effectively reduced the TR/MCF-7 (IC₅₀: 37.21 µM) and 5-FUR/MDA-MB 231 (IC₅₀: 47.00 µM) cell survival by inducing apoptosis, inhibiting cell migration, colony and spheroid formations in TR/MCF-7 cells, and invasiveness of 5-FUR/MDA-MB 231 cells. Most importantly, PTER–ITC significantly reduced the miR-21 expressions in these resistant cell lines. Moreover, the downstream tumor suppressor target gene of miR-21 such as PTEN, PDCD4, TIMP3, TPM1, and Fas L were upregulated after PTER–ITC treatment, as observed from transcriptional (RT-qPCR) and translational (immunoblotting) data. In silico and miR-immunoprecipitation (miR-IP) results showed reduced Dicer binding to pre-miR-21, after PTER–ITC treatment, indicating inhibition of miR-21 biogenesis. Collectively, the significance of this study is indicated by preliminary evidence for miR-21-modulatory effects of PTER–ITC that highlights the potential of this hybrid compound as an miR-21-targeting therapeutic agent.