Fig. 6: Study on pre-miR-21 degradation in cancer cells.

a The mechanism of TME-activated degradation of pre-miR-21. b Cytotoxicity of RIBOTAC21-BA and RIBOTAC-BA toward BEAS-2B detected by CCK8 assays. n = 6 independent samples. c Cytotoxicity of RIBOTAC21-BA, RIBOTAC21, and RIBOTAC21-BA + CAT (catalase) toward A549 cells detected by CCK8 assays. n = 6 independent samples. Degradation of miR-21-5p both in A549 and BEAS-2B cells treated with different concentrations of RIBOTAC21-BA determined by agarose gel (d) and the corresponding quantitative analysis (e). n = 3 independent samples. Expression of PDCD4 both in A549 and BEAS-2B cells treated with different concentrations of RIBOTAC21-BA determined by WB (f) and the corresponding quantitative analysis (g). n = 3 independent samples. Expression of PDCD4 both in A549 and BEAS-2B cells treated with different concentrations of RIBOTAC21 determined by WB (h) and the corresponding quantitative analysis (i). n = 3 independent samples. j Colony formation of A549 cells with different treatments (PBS, 50 nM RIBOTAC-BA, or 50 nM RIBOTAC21-BA) followed by X-ray irradiation (0, 2, 4, or 6 Gy). k Surviving fractions and l SER calculation of A549 cells with various treatments by colony forming assays. m Ionizing radiation biomarker γ-H2AX detection, A549 cells were treated with PBS, RIBOTAC-BA (50 nM), or RIBOTAC21-BA (50 nM) followed by 4 Gy of X-ray irradiation. n The corresponding quantitative analysis of m (SER represents sensitivity enhance ratio. D0 (Gy) parameter represents the dose required for survival to drop to 37% before exposure. Box plots show 25–75% percentiles, minimal and maximal values (whiskers), median (line), and mean (cross). n = 4 independent samples). Data denote the mean ± standard deviation. Two-sided unpaired t-test. Source data are provided as a Source Data file. Figure 6a created in BioRender. Zhang (2025) https://BioRender.com/c46k585.