Novel Antrodia cinnamomea Extract Reduced Cancer Stem-Like Phenotype Changes and Resensitized KRAS-Mutant Colorectal Cancer via a MicroRNA-27a Pathway

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common causes of death in Taiwan. Previous studies showed that Antrodia cinnamomea (AC) can treat poisoning, diarrhea, and various types of cancer. Therefore, we purified a novel ubiquinone derivative, AC009, and investigated its antitumor effects. Cell viability assays revealed that AC009 reduced the viability of several human CRC cell lines. AC009 treatment resulted in cell-cycle arrest/apoptosis, and these effects may occur via caspase and Bcl-2 signaling pathways. We demonstrated that AC009 could significantly inhibit in vivo tumor growth in xenograft mouse models. Using messenger RNA (mRNA) and microRNA (miRNA) microarrays, we found that KRAS gene expression was also regulated by AC009, possibly through specific miRNAs. AC009 also reduced cancer stem-cell marker CD44(+)/CD24(+) expression and restored the tumor inhibition effect of cetuximab in KRAS-mutant CRC. Moreover, we found that miRNA-27a could restore the tumor inhibition effect of cetuximab in KRAS-mutant CRC cells. Taken together, our results suggest that AC009 has therapeutic potential against human wild-type and KRAS-mutant CRC.