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. 2015 Jul 13;5(10):1122–1143. doi: 10.7150/thno.11543

Figure 2.

Figure 2

In vitro validation of miRNA-target direct interaction. Cultured cell lines are transfected with a reporter vector containing firefly (FIR) luciferase gene and the 3′ UTR of the gene of interest (GOI). The level of expression of FIR luciferase is measured in a luminometric assay. Cells are then exposed to the mimic miRNA, which is supposed to enter within the cell and to interact with the 3′ UTR of the GOI. If no interaction between miRNA and the 3′ UTR of GOI happens (a), we could observe no alteration in the level of expression of luciferase, thus no alteration in the emitted chemoluminescence, as FIR gene produced an active, luminescent protein. The complete interaction between the miRNA and the 3′ UTR of the GOI (b) leads to reduced FIR luciferase expression, with a decrease of luminescence levels. Other luminescent genes, such as Renilla (REN) luciferase, are usually used as reference genes for luminescence normalization.