The aim of this study was to characterize a potential tumor suppressor microRNA, miR-379, and engineer MSCs to secrete EVs enriched with miR-379 for in vivo therapy of breast cancer. miR-379 expression was significantly reduced in lymph node metastases compared to primary tumor tissue from the same patients.
Functional assays revealed reduced proliferation (p<0.05) and decreased Cyclin B1 protein levels following transfection of breast cancer cells with miR-379.
In addition, there was a significant correlation between the genes downregulated by miR-379 and a set of genes upregulated in basal subtype of breast cancer.