Figure 4.

MFN2 was identified as a target of miR-31 in HASMCs. (A) Target sequences of miR-31 in 3′-UTR of the wild-type and mutant MFN2. (B) A luciferase reporter assay was used to determine whether MFN2 was a direct target of miR-31. miR-31 mimics significantly reduced the luciferase activity in the wild-type MFN2 compared with the negative control, whereas there was no significant difference between miR-31 and negative control transfection in the mutant MFN2. (C and D) Western blotting was performed to determine the levels of MFN2 protein in HASMCs transfected with miR-31 mimics (50 nmol/l), inhibitor (100 nmol/l) and negative control oligos (50 nmol/l). **P<0.01 vs. negative control. MFN2, mitofusin-2; miR, microRNA; HASMC, human arterial smooth muscle cell; UTR, untranslated region.