MicroRNA-320a sensitizes tamoxifen-resistant breast cancer cells to tamoxifen by targeting ARPP-19 and ERRγ

Tamoxifen represents a major adjuvant therapy to those patients with estrogen receptor-alpha positive breast cancer. However, tamoxifen resistance occurs quite often, either de novo or acquired during treatment. To investigate the role of miR-320a in the development of resistance to tamoxifen, we established tamoxifen-resistant (TamR) models by continually exposing MCF-7 or T47D breast cancer cells to tamoxifen, and identified microRNA(miRNA)-320a as a down-regulated miRNA in tamoxifen resistant cells. Re-expression of miR-320a was sufficient to sensitize TamR cells to tamoxifen by targeting cAMP-regulated phosphoprotein (ARPP-19) and estrogen-related receptor gamma (ERR gamma) as well as their downstream effectors, c-Myc and Cyclin D1. Furthermore, progesterone (P-4) promoted the expression of miR-320a by repressing c-Myc expression, while estrogen (E-2) exerted the opposite effect. These results suggest the potential therapeutic approach for tamoxifen-resistant breast cancer by restorating miR-320a expression or depleting ARPP-19/ERR gamma expression.