Figure 2.

Bioinformatics and luciferase reporter assays to investigate miRNAs involved in ERα signaling pathways. (A and B) TargetScan software predicted that ERα (ESR1) was a target gene of miR-148a, and their targeting relationship was evolutionarily conserved. (C and D) WT or MT ERα-3′UTR was inserted downstream of the luciferase reporter gene in a pMIR-REPORT vector. (E) A luciferase reporter assay following co-transfection of the WT-ERα-3′UTR or MT-ERα-3′UTR reporter vector with an miR-148a mimic or a control miRNA in HEK293 cells. **P<0.01 vs. control. ERα, estrogen receptor α; miR, microRNA; WT, wild type; MT, mutant type; 3′UTR, 3′untranslated region; miR-NC, scrambled miR mimic.