Stemness-Attenuating miR-503-3p as a Paracrine Factor to Regulate Growth of Cancer Stem Cells

Figure 3

miR-503-3p inhibits stem cell-like properties in MCF7 cells. (a) qRT-PCR analysis showed that miR-503-3p significantly decreases the level of Nanog, a pluripotent transcription factor, in MCF7 CSCs. . (b) Tumor-sphere formation in MCF7 CSCs, transfected with miR-503-3p, is dramatically inhibited, compared to that of the negative control or cells treated with mutant miR-503-3p. Representative spheroids are shown in the left panels, and spheroid formation was quantified using ImageJ. and are determined by one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s test. (c) Cytotoxic effects are analyzed by an MTT assay. miR-503-3p significantly reduces cell viability in MCF7 cells. (d) miR-503-3p indirectly regulates the expression of Nanog. Luciferase activity was measured in MCF7 cells cotransfected with psiC-Nanog and miR-503-3p mimics. Error bars indicate SDs ( per experiment). .

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