Skip to main content
. 2014 Oct 10;9(10):e108005. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0108005

Figure 3. MiR-21 and SPRY2 mutually modulate the expression of each other in regulating ERK1 signaling in HSCs.

Figure 3

Primary HSCs were treated with miR-21 mimics for 48 h, MiR-21 and the mRNA transcript levels of SPRY2, ERK1 and RSK2 (A), MMP-9 and MMP-13, fibrogenesis-associated genes α-SMA, TIMP1, Col I and Col III (B) were examined by quantitative RT-PCR. Immunoblotting assays were done to detect the expression of SPRY2, phospho-ERK1, phospho-ERK2 and RSK2 (C). GADPH was used as a loading control. Blots representative of at least three independent experiments are shown. Primary HSCs treated with TGFβ1 for 48 h were infected by AdSPRY2 (D) and primary quiescent HSCs were transfected with miR-21 mimics followed by AdSPRY2 infection 48 h later (E). Then, the mRNA transcript levels of SPRY2, ERK1, RSK2 and α-SMA were examined by quantitative RT-PCR. MiR-21 expression was normalized against Rnu6-2 and mRNA expression was normalized against β-actin. Each value in (A), (B), (D) and (E) represents the mean with the SD (error bars) for triplicate samples of at least three independent experiments. *P<0.05 or **P<0.01 vs. controls.