Curcumin Inhibits Hepatocellular Carcinoma via Regulating miR-21/TIMP3 Axis

Figure 5

miR-21-5p targets TIMP3 in HCC cell lines. (a) The predicted miR-21-5p binding sites in the 3′-UTR of the TIMP3 gene. (b) The relative Luciferase activities were determined using a Dual-Luciferase Reporter Assay Kit following cotransfection with TIMP3-wt or TIMP3-mut and miR-21-5p mimic or NC mimic in HepG2 and HCCLM3 cells. (c) TIMP3 mRNA expression in HepG2 and HCCLM3 cells was measured by RT-qPCR assay following transfection with miR-21-5p inhibitor or NC inhibitor in HepG2 and HCCLM3 cells. (d) Western blotting was applied to quantify the expression level of TIMP3 following transfection with miR-21-5p inhibitor or NC inhibitor in HepG2 and HCCLM3 cells. The experiment was repeated three times; results were shown as means ± standard deviation. and vs. NC inhibitor group; vs. NC mimic group.

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