Fucoidan increases miR-29b to target the 3′-UTR region of DNMT3B and repress its expression in human HCC cells. (A) Schematic representation of 3′-UTRs of DNMT3B showing putative miR-29b target site; (B) After transfection, the DNMT3B-dependent luciferase activity of HCC cells was measured by Dual-Luciferase® Reporter Assay System (Promega, Madison, WI, USA) 48 h after the treatment as indicated. The experiments were performed in triplicate. The values were normalized to the Renilla luciferase activity (transfection efficiency control) and plotted as relative luciferase activity. SCR: scrambled control. Each group of fucoidan-treated samples was normalized against each untreated control. The data are representative of three separate experiments and are presented as the mean ± SD; error bars indicate SD. Significant differences are shown (*
p < 0.05 and **
p < 0.01, compared with the control group).