Effect of Silibinin on the Expression of Mir-20b, Bcl2L11, and Erbb2 in Breast Cancer Cell Lines.

This study aimed to evaluate the comparative effect of silibinin (SB) on the expression of MiR­20b and BCL2L11 in T47D and MCF-7 cell lines. Molecular simulation studies were carried out to analyze Erbb2, as a potential target of SB, to direct the breast cancer cells toward apoptosis. At first, cell viability, apoptosis, and cell cycle arrest-inducing capacity of SB were examined using MTT and flow cytometry analysis, respectively. Real-time PCR (RT-PCR) was employed to assess the effect of SB on BCL2L11, Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), and Caspase 9 mRNarrest-indu. Moreover, alterations in Caspase 9 protein expression were determined using Western blot analysis. Finally, AutoDockVina software was used to dock the SB/ MiR­20b and SB/ erb-b2 receptor tyrosine kinase 2 (Erbb2) interaction. The obtained data revealed the potent cytotoxicity of SB in both T47D and MCF-7 cells through apoptosis induction and cell cycle arrest. SB-treated cells also showed downregulation of MiR­20b and high expression of BCL2L11, PTEN, and Caspase 9 mRNA compared to non-treated cancer cells. Computational docking showed a strong interaction between SB/ MiR­20b and SB/Erbb2. It can be concluded that SB had a strong anti-tumorigenic activity through BCL2L11upregulation and MiR­20b down expression, maybe through targeting the PTEN and interacting with Erbb2, which resulted in apoptotic induction and cell cycle arrest.