miR-3960 from Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles Inactivates SDC1/Wnt/β-Catenin Axis to Relieve Chondrocyte Injury in Osteoarthritis by Targeting PHLDA2

Figure 3

miR-3960 targets and negatively regulates PHLDA2. (a) The target gene of miR-3960 predicted using TargetScan, miRWalk, and upregulated genes in the OA-related GSE16464 dataset from GEO database. (b) PHLDA2 expression in GSE16464 dataset. (c) The binding sites between miR-3960 and PHLDA2 predicted using starBase. (d) PHLDA2 mRNA level in the cartilage tissues of OA patients () and patients with traumatic amputation () determined by RT-qPCR. (e) Correlation between miR-3960 and PHLDA2 analyzed by Pearson’s correlation coefficient. (f) The binding of miR-3960 to PHLDA2 verified using the dual-luciferase reporter gene assay. Chondrocytes were transduced with miR-3960 mimic or miR-3960 inhibitor. (g) miR-3960 expression and PHLDA2 mRNA level in the chondrocytes determined by RT-qPCR. (h) PHLDA2 protein level in the chondrocytes determined by immunoblotting. vs. patients with traumatic amputation or chondrocytes treated with mimic-NC; ^# vs. chondrocytes treated with IL-1β; & vs. chondrocytes treated with inhibitor-NC. Data are shown as the of three technical replicates. Data between two groups were compared by independent -test. Data comparisons among multiple groups were analyzed by the one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post hoc test.

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