Fig. 2. miR-338-5p regulates the sensitivity of HCC cells to DOX and VBL by targeting ABCB1.

The ectopic expression of miR-338-5p enhanced the sensitivity to chemotherapeutics and increased the intracellular concentration of DOX in HCC cells. Cells were treated with medium containing DOX or VBL for 48 h, and then, cell viability was detected. Overexpression of miR-338-5p in Hep3B a or Huh7 b cells increased the sensitivity to DOX or VBL. Knockdown of miR-338-5p reduced the sensitivity to DOX or VBL of Hep3B c and Huh7 d cells. Intracellular DOX accumulation was measured by flow cytometry in cells transfected with miR-338-5p mimics e or inhibitors f. e–f Left: the output results of the intracellular DOX fluorescence intensity measured by flow cytometry. Right: the statistical results. (g–h) The sensitivity of cells to DOX or VBL was detected by CCK-8 assay. (a–d) and (g–h) Left: The sensitivity of cells to DOX. Right: The sensitivity of cells to VBL. Two-way analysis of variance was employed to analyze the drug sensitivity data. The data in all experiments are presented as the means ± SD of three independent experiments. ***P < 0.001 vs. NC