Sulforaphane promotes apoptosis, and inhibits proliferation and self-renewal of nasopharyngeal cancer cells by targeting STAT signal through miRNA-124-3p

Abstract Sulforaphane(SF) exhibits an anti-tumor effect in a variety of cancers, but little is known about its function in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. SF could decrease the expression of stem cell markers, β-catenin, Nanog, c-Myc, Oct3/4 and Sox2in nasopharyngeal cancer cells (HONE1 and SUN1), and inhibit the formation of tumor spheres. Moreover, SF inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis decreasing the stemness of nasopharyngeal cancer cells through a mechanism related to STAT3signaling in vitro. We found that SF inhibits total STAT3expression level and STAT3phosphorylation (troy 704 and troy 705) by upregulation of miRNA-124-3p. Our results provide the evidence for discovering the novel drugs against nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and potential drugs targeting STAT3signaling pathway.