Sulforaphane Suppresses MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells Growth via miR-19/PTEN Axis to Antagonize the Effect of Butyl Benzyl Phthalate.

Sulforaphane (SFN), a major isothiocyanate found in cruciferous vegetables, reportedly exerts extensive antitumor effects. Butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP), a widely used plasticizer, plays a crucial role in the promotion of breast cancer. In the present study, we demonstrated that SFN inhibited proliferation, induced apoptosis, and suppressed the stemness of MCF-7 cells, whereas BBP exerted the opposite effects; microRNA-19 ( miR-19 ) plays an important role in BBP-induced cell growth and dysregulation mediated via PTEN and p21 . The growth-promoting effect of BBP could be mitigated by SFN, accompanied by a reversal of altered expression of miR-19a , miR-19b , PTEN , and p21 . SFN also suppressed BBP-induced binding of upregulated miR-19 with PTEN , as determined using a dual-luciferase reporter assay. Collectively, these results demonstrated, for the first time, that SFN regulates the miR-19 / PTEN axis to exert protective effects against BBP-mediated breast cancer promotion, suggesting a new potential role for SFN (or SFN-rich foods) in phthalate antagonism.