Quercetin and MicroRNA Interplay in Apoptosis Regulation in Ovarian Cancer

Abstract

The multifaceted nature of ovarian cancer has severely hampered the development of effective therapeutics over the years. The composite nature of ovarian cancer makes it therapeutically challenging, therefore, there has been a renewed interest in phytochemistry. Phytochemicals have emerged as a potential therapeutic option due to their limited cytotoxicity and high specificity. Moreover, their signaling inhibition properties have also been studied extensively in recent times. A growing number of data obtained through high-throughput technologies has started to delineate the complex oncogenic signaling networks, thus broadening the therapeutic opportunities. Within such network, microRNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to play a versatile role in the regulation of cancer. Quercetin has been in the spotlight over the years because of its high pharmacological values and substantial evidence has demonstrated its anti-proliferative efficacy against various types of cancers. Despite the versatility of quercetin, little is known about its anti-proliferative potential towards ovarian cancer. This review sheds some light on the importance of quercetin as an alternative therapeutic approach to this tumor, furthermore addressing the interplay between miRNAs and quercetin in the regulation of apoptosis in ovarian cancer.