Figure 3.

miR-21 targets the PDCD4 gene. (A) Alignment of the 3′-UTR sequence of PDCD4 in three species with miR-21, highlighting the fully conserved sequence in bold. (B) Relative luciferase expression in rat PDCD4 luciferase reporters co-transfected with miR-21-expressing constructs in HEK293 cells. miR-21 decreased luciferase activity in the miR-21-transfected group by 45±5.1% compared with the control and negative control groups. Data are expressed as the mean ± standard deviation (n=5/group). **P<0.01. miR-21, microRNA-21; PDCD4, programmed cell death 4; neg, negative control.