Berberine sensitizes ovarian cancer cells to cisplatin through miR-21/PDCD4 axis.

Recent studies have shown that microRNA-21 (miR-21) contributes to tumor resistance to chemotherapy. Interestingly, we have found that berberine could inhibit miR-21 expression in several cancer cell lines. In this study, we investigated whether berberine could modulate the sensitivity of ovarian cancer cells to cisplatin and explored the mechanism. The cisplatin-resistant SKOV3 cells that were incubated with berberine combined with cisplatin had a significantly lower survival than the cisplatin alone group and enhanced cisplatin-induced apoptosis. Berberine could inhibit miR-21 expression and function in ovarian cancer, as shown by an enhancement of its target PDCD4, an important tumor suppressor in ovarian cancer. The results suggested that berberine could modulate the sensitivity of cisplatin via regulating miR-21/PDCD4 axis in the ovarian cancer cells.