Review Article

Advances in Understanding Mitochondrial MicroRNAs (mitomiRs) on the Pathogenesis of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC)

Table 4

Roles and mechanisms of mitomiRs in mitochondrial homeostasis on dynamics, mitophagy, calcium transport, and mtDNA maintenance.

mitomiRFunctionTarget geneMechanism of actionOutcomePMIDReference

Mitochondrial dynamics
miR-195(-)TNBCMFN2↓MFN2
↓OPA1
↑DRP1
↑Mitochondrial fission
↓OCR
↓Mitochondrial ATP
↑ROS
↑Apoptosis
30932749Purohit et al., 2019 [70]
Mitophagy
miR-137(+)BCSCFUNDC1↓FUNDC1/↓NIX/↓LC3-II
→↓Mitophagy
↑Mitochondrial biogenesis
↓ROS
↑ATP production
↓Apoptosis
32945512Hu et al., 2020 [72]
miR-1(-)BCSCMINOS1
GPD2
LRPPRC
↓MINOS1/↓GPD2/↓LRPPRC
→↑Disorganized cristae
→↑PINK1→↑LC3-II
→↑Mitophagy
Cell cycle arrest at G0/G1
↓Tumor growth
31765945Zhang et al., 2019 [71]
Mitochondrial calcium transport
miR-4488(-)TNBCCX3CL1↓MCU (TNBC)→
↑miR-4488 EVs (TNBC)→
↓CX3CL1 (ECs)
↓Angiogenesis
↓Tumor metastasis
↑Survival time of mice
33067576Zheng et al., 2020 [74]
miR-340(-)TNBCMCU↓MCU→↓[Ca2+]m →↓LDH↓Glucose uptake
↓ATP production
↓Lactate production
↓Migration
↓Tumor metastasis
29137386Yu et al., 2017 [37]
miR-195(-)TNBCCYP27b1↑[Ca2+]m
↑[Ca2+]C
ΔΨm
↓EMT
↓Proliferation
↓Migration
↓Invasion
26632252Singh et al., 2015 [43]
mtDNA maintenance
miR-499a(+)TNBCSCPOLB↑POLB→↑mtDNA stability↑Tumorigenic genes
↑CSC genes
↑Proliferation
33278391Manda et al., 2020 [76]
miR-128(-)TNBCINSR, IRS1↓INSR/↓INS1→↓mtDNA content↓Mitochondrial bioenergetics
↓Proliferation
↓Tumor growth
29116653Xiao et al., 2018 [33]
miR-199a(-)TNBCTFAM↓TFAM→↓mtDNA content↑Cisplatin-induced apoptosis
↓Proliferation
28126676Fan et al., 2017 [75]
miR-4485(-)TNBC16S rRNA↓16S rRNA→↓ETC enzyme activity→↓mitochondrial ATP↑Cell death
↓Proliferation
↓Tumor growth
28220193Sripada et al., 2017 [44]

(+): oncogenic; (-): tumor suppressor; “↑”: enhanced; “↓”: reduced; ΔΨm: mitochondrial membrane potential; BCSC: breast cancer stem cell; ↑[Ca2+]C: cytosolic calcium; [Ca2+]m: mitochondrial calcium; CX3CL1: C-X3-C motif chemokine ligand 1; CYP27B1: cytochrome P450 family 27, subfamily B, polypeptide 1; DRP1: dynamin-related protein 1; ECs: endothelial cells; EVs: extracellular vesicles; FUNDC1: FUN14 domain containing 1; GPD2: glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase 2; INSR: insulin receptor; IRS1: insulin receptor substrate 1; LC3: microtubule-associated proteins 1A/1B light chain 3B; LDH: lactate dehydrogenase; LRPPRC: leucine-rich pentatricopeptide-repeat containing; MCU: mitochondrial calcium uniporter; MFN: mitofusin; MINOS1: mitochondrial inner membrane organizing system 1; NIX: NIP-3-like protein X; OPA1: optic atrophy 1; PINK1: PTEN-induced kinase 1; POLB: DNA polymerase beta; ROS: reactive oxygen species; TFAM: mitochondrial transcription factor A; UQCC2: ubiquinol-cytochrome C reductase core protein 2.