Figure 5
From: MicroRNA-17-5p activates hepatic stellate cells through targeting of Smad7
Interaction of miR-17-5p with the 3'UTR of Smad7 in HSCs. (a) Schematic representation of miRNA binding sites in the 3'UTR of Smad7 mRNA based on miRDB. The black box indicates miR-17-5p and 'tested sequence' signifies the region inserted into the luciferase reporter vector. (b) Predicted consequential pairing of the target region and miR-17-5p. According to the pairing sites, corresponding luciferase reporter vectors were designated pMIR-17-5p and pMIR-17-5p-Mut. (c) HSCs were transfected with pMIR (empty vector), pMIR containing wild-type miR-17-5p targeting sequence (pMIR-17-5p) and pMIR with mutated miR-17-5p target sequence (pMIR-17-5p-Mut). The graph depicts luciferase activity in cells transfected with pMIR-17-5p or pMIR-17-5p-Mut as well as those co-transfection with miR-17-5p precursor or miR-NC. *P<0.05. (d) Smad7 mRNA expression was analyzed in HSCs treated with miR-17-5p mimics or miR-NC using real-time PCR. (e) Protein expression of Smad7 in HSCs treated with miR-17-5p mimics or miR-NC was analyzed via western blot with β-actin as the internal control. Each value represents the mean±s.d. of three experiments. *P<0.05, compared with the control.
