Table 1 Effect of thymoquinone (TQ) on the function of different miRNAs in the course of cancer therapy

Pancreatic cancer

PANC-1

MIA PaCa-2

–

In vitro: 6.25 μM

miR-24–1

miR-101

Up-regulation

Cleavage of procaspase3, PARP, increased PKM2 expression

[105]

Breast cancer

MDA-MB-231

MDA-MB-468

Mouse

In vivo: 3 μg/mL

miR-361

Up-regulation

Down-regulated Rac1, RhoA and VEGF-A, inhibit both metastasis and angiogenesis

[106]

Lung cancer

-

Mouse

In vivo: 10 mg/kg

miR-206

Down-regulation

Reduction of oxidative stress and necrosis formation, regeneration of the liver tissue

[110]

Breast cancer

MCF-7 cells

Mouse

miR-34a

Up-regulation

Up-regulation of p53, down-regulation of Rac1,

Metastasis inhibition

[25]

Breast cancer

BT-549

–

In vitro: 5 μM

miR-34a

Up-regulation

Decreased levels of EMT-TFs including Twist and Snail, ZEB and NOTCH, control metastasis through down-regulation of EMT

[83]

Leukemia

MV4-11 and Kasumi-1

Mouse

In vitro: 10 μM

In vivo: 15 mg/kg

miR-29b

Up-regulation

Dysfunction of DNA methyltransferases, dissociation of Sp1/NF-κB complex, induces apoptosis through activation of caspase-3 and caspase-8

[66]

Breast cancer

MDA-MB-231

MDA-MB-436

Mouse

In vitro: 15 μM

In vivo: 100 mg/kg

miR-34a

Up-regulation

Suppressing NF-κB

and eEF-2 K pathway

[65]

Liver cancer

HepG2, Huh7

–

In vitro: 10 μM

miR-16 and miR-375

Up-regulation

Up-regulated caspase-3, down-regulated Bcl-2

[114]

Lung cancer

A549

Mouse

In vitro: 5 μM

In vivo: 5 mg/kg

miR-16 and miR-375

Up-regulation

Up-regulation of p53 and Bax, down-regulation of Bcl2, pro-caspase-3 and pro-caspase-9, induce apoptosis

[26]