Fatty acid β-oxidation promotes breast cancer stemness and metastasis via the miRNA-328-3p-CPT1A pathway
Feng Zeng, Mingkang Yao, Yun Wang, Wei Zheng, Shengshan Liu, Zeyu Hou, Xiaoming Cheng, Suhong Sun, Taolang Li, Hongyuan Zhao, Yi Luo, Jiang Li
Abstract
MicroRNAs (miRNA) have been shown to be associated with tumor diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic response. MiR-328-3p plays a significant role in breast cancer growth; however, its actual function and how it modulates specific biological functions is poorly understood. Here, miR-328-3p was significantly downregulated in breast cancer, especially in patients with metastasis. Mitochondrial carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1a (CPT1A) is a downstream target gene in the miR-328-3p-regulated pathway. Furthermore, the miR-328-3p/CPT1A/fatty acid β-oxidation/stemness axis was shown responsible for breast cancer metastasis. Collectively, this study revealed that miR-328-3p is a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of breast cancer patients with metastasis, and also a model for the miRNA-fatty acid β-oxidation-stemness axis, which may assist inunderstanding the cancer stem cell signaling functions of miRNA.