Fig. 4.

Validation of PDCD4 as a direct target of miR-21. (a) Sequence alignment of miR-21 and its complementary sites in the 3′-UTR of PDCD4. (b) Dual-luciferase reporter assay showing decreased luciferase activity in cells co-transfected with miR-21 mimic and the PDCD4 wild-type reporter. No changes were observed in the mutant reporters. (c) qRT-PCR analysis showing elevated PDCD4 mRNA expression after miR-21 inhibition. All experiments were performed in triplicates and analyzed for statistical significance. ∗P < 0.05.Abbreviations: miR-21 = microRNA-21; PDCD4 = Programmed Cell Death 4; 3′-UTR = 3′ untranslated region; WT = wild-type; MUT = mutant; qRT-PCR = quantitative Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction.