Homoharringtonine inhibited breast cancer cells growth via miR-18a-3p/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway

Homoharringtonine (HHT), a natural alkaloid derived from the cephalotaxus, exhibited its anti-cancer effects in hematological malignancies clinically.However, its pesticide effects and mechanisms in treating solid tumors remain unclear.In this study, we found that HHT was capable of inhibiting tumor growth after 5-days treatment of breast cancer cells, MCF-7, in vivo.Furthemore, HHT also significantly inhibited the cancer cell growth and induced cell apoptosis in vitro.miRNA sequencing proved miR-18a-3p was noticeably downregulated in the cells after HHT treatment.Moreover, downregulating miR-18a-3p increased HHT-induced cell apoptosis; our data supported that HHT suppressed miR-18a-3p expression and inhibited tumorigenesis might via AKT-mTOR signaling pathway.In conclusion: our study proved that HHT suppressed breast cancer cell growth and promoted apoptosis mediated by regulating of the miR-18a-3p-AKT-mTOR signaling pathway, HHT may be a promising antitumor agent in breast cancer treatment.