Over sixty percent of all mammalian
protein-coding genes are estimated to be regulated by
microRNAs (
miRNAs), and unsurprisingly
miRNA dysregulation has been linked with
cancer. Aberrant
miRNA expression in
cancer cells has been linked with tumourigenesis and drug resistance. In the past decade, increasing number of studies have demonstrated that
cholesterol accumulation fuels tumour growth and contributes to drug resistance, therefore,
miRNAs controlling
cholesterol metabolism and homeostasis are obvious hypothetical targets for investigating their role in
cholesterol-mediated drug resistance in
cancer. In this review, we have collated published evidences to consolidate this hypothesis and have scrutinized it by utilizing computational tools to explore the role of
miRNAs in
cholesterol-mediated drug resistance in
breast cancer cells. We found that
hsa-miR-128 and hsa-miR-223 regulate genes mediating
lipid signalling and
cholesterol metabolism,
cancer drug resistance and
breast cancer genes. The analysis demonstrates that targeting these
miRNAs in
cancer cells presents an opportunity for developing new strategies to combat anticancer drug resistance.