FIGURE 2.

MicroRNA (miR)‐541‐5p and miR‐3064‐5p targeting inhibited pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) expression in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) cells. Knockdown of miR‐541‐5p and miR‐3064‐5p promoted PTC cell proliferation and glycolysis. (A) miRNAs potentially targeting circular RNA nuclear receptor‐interacting protein 1 (circNRIP1) and PKM2 predicted using bioinformatics software. (B,C) Quantitative real‐time PCR (qRT‐PCR) showing relative expressions of predicted miRNAs after si‐NC (non‐silencing control) and si‐circNRIP1 transfection in (B) TPC1 and (C) BCPAP cells. (D) Western blot detection of glycolysis‐associated proteins (PKM2) after miR‐541‐5p, miR‐3064‐5p, and miR‐3140‐3p mimic transfection in PTC cells. (E,F) qRT‐PCR showing relative expressions of miR‐541‐5p and miR‐3064‐5p in 98 pairs of PTC tissues and adjacent noncancerous tissues. (G) Correlations between circNRIP1 and miR‐541‐5p and miR‐3064‐5p in PTC tissues determined by Pearson's correlation. (H) Correlations between miR‐541‐5p, miR‐3064‐5p, and PKM2 in PTC tissues analyzed by Pearson's correlation. (I) PKM2 levels determined by western blotting. (J) TPC1 cell proliferation evaluated by the CCK‐8 assay. (K) Glucose uptake and lactate production after transfection with NC, miR‐541‐5p inhibitor, and miR‐3064‐5p inhibitor in TPC1 cells. (L) Extracellular acidification rate (ECAR) determined by Seahorse metabolic analysis after transfections with NC, miR‐541‐5p inhibitor, and miR‐3064‐5p inhibitor in TPC1 cells.*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01