BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is a common malignant tumor worldwide. Despite the huge advances in modern medicine, many patients still face a high risk of recrudescent and metastatic breast cancer. Berberine was widely implemented in clinic treatment of breast cancer. This study was performed to contribute to a better understanding on the mechanisms underlying berberine affecting breast cancer.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: We mined survival data of metadherin (MTDH) in breast cancer patients through Kaplan-Meier Plotter and analyzed the transcriptional and posttranscriptional expression profile of MTDH in several breast cancer cell lines. The cell viability and MTDH mRNA level were detected under the si-MTDH vector and different concentrations of berberine. The MTDH-expression vector was transfected into MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells, and the changes of cell viability and apoptosis were determined after berberine (50 μM) treatment.

RESULTS: High MTDH expression was related to worse relapse-free survival (RFS) of breast cancer (P-value=6.2e-08). High-expressed MTDH is common in breast cancer cells, compared with that in normal breast cells (P<0.01). MTDH knockout could inhibit the viabilities of MCF-7 and MDA-MA-231 cells (P<0.01). When the concentration was higher than 10 μM, the suppressive effects of berberine on viability and MTDH reached significant level. As MTDH expression increased, the enhanced apoptosis rates of breast cancer cells by berberine were remarkably inhibited.

CONCLUSIONS: High-expressed MTDH was helpful to cell proliferation and survival in breast cancer. The anti-cancer ability of berberine in breast cancer may be partially dependent on the regulation of MTDH.

Keywords: Flow Cytometry, Berberine, Breast Neoplasms, Membrane Proteins, RNA-Binding Proteins