3,3'-Diindolylmethane negatively regulates Cdc25A and induces a G2/M arrest by modulation of microRNA 21 in human breast cancer cells.

3,3'-Diindolylmethane (DIM) is a potential chemopreventive phytochemical derived from Brassica vegetables. In this study, we assessed the effects of DIM on cell cycle regulation in both estrogen-dependent MCF-7 and estrogen receptor negative p53 mutant MDA-MB-468 human breast cancer cells. In-vitro culture studies showed that DIM dose dependently inhibited the proliferation of both cells. In addition, in-vivo xenograft model showed that DIM strongly inhibited the development of human breast tumors. Fluorescence activated cell sorter analysis showed a DIM-mediated G2/M cell cycle arrest in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-468 cells. Western blot analysis showed that DIM downregulated the expression of cyclin-dependent kinases 2 and 4 and Cdc25A, which plays an important role in G2/M phase. Furthermore, treatment of MCF-7 cells with DIM, which increased microRNA 21 expression, caused a downregulation of Cdc25A, resulting in an inhibition of breast cancer cell proliferation. Taken together, our data show that DIM is able to stop the cell cycle progression of human breast cancer cells regardless of their estrogen-dependence and p53 status, by differentially modulating cell cycle regulatory pathways. The modulation of microRNA 21 mediates the DIM cell cycle regulator effect in MCF-7 cells.