Fig. 6: MiR-144-3p levels are upregulated in vitro and in vivo and associated with intracellular growth of Mabc and Mmass.

a Alignment of miR-144-3p sequences from human and mouse genomes (hsa, Homo sapiens; mmu, Mus musculus). b, c C57BL/6 mice were infected intranasally with Mabc (1 × 10⁷ CFU) or Mmass (1 × 10⁷ CFU) and monitored at 7 days post-infection (dpi). Quantitative real-time PCR analysis of miR-144-3p (b) and Tnf, Il6, Ccl2, Cxcl2, and Il1b (c) in the lung tissues from infected mice (n = 4, for each group). d Murine BMDMs were infected with Mabc or Mmass (MOI = 3, 2 h) and cultured at the indicated times. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis of mmu-miR-144-3p. e Murine BMDMs were transfected with mimic negative control (Ctrl) or mmu-miR-144-3p mimic (10 nM) for 24 h. Cells were infected with Mabc or Mmass (MOI = 1, for each), followed by CFU assays for determination of intracellular survival of bacteria after 24 h. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001. ns not significant, U uninfected, A Mabc, MMmass. Mann–Whitney U test (b, c, and e); one-way ANOVA (d). Values represent the mean (±SD) from at least four independent experiments performed in triplicate (b–d). Data are the combined results (mean ± SEM) from three independent experiments (e). Mabc M. abscessus subsp. abscessus, Mmass M. abscessus subsp. massiliense.