Figure 3.

miR-27a overexpression promotes the proliferation and inhibits the apoptosis of MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. (A) CCK-8 assays demonstrated that cells transfected with miR-27a mimics exhibited enhanced proliferation. (B) Cell survival rates were calculated following CCK-8 assays. (C) Representative flow cytometry plots following transfection of MCF-7 cells with NC mimics or miR-27a mimics. The UR quadrant was considered to indicate late apoptotic cells and the LR quadrant was considered to indicate early apoptotic cells (D) Quantified flow cytometry results demonstrated that the percentage of late apoptotic cells was significantly reduced following transfection of cells with miR-27a mimics. (E) CCK-8 assays demonstrated that cells transfected with miR-27a inhibitors exhibited reduced proliferation. (F) Cell survival rates were calculated following CCK-8 assays. (G) Representative flow cytometry plots following transfection of MCF-7 cells with NC inhibitors or miR-27a inhibitors. The UR quadrant was considered to indicate late apoptotic cells and the LR quadrant was considered to indicate early apoptotic cells. (H) Quantified flow cytometry results demonstrated that the percentage of late apoptotic cells was significantly increased following transfection of cells with miR-27a inhibitors. (I) Western blotting demonstrated that transfection with miR-27a mimics led to a significant increase in the protein expression of PCNA, while miR-27a inhibitors significantly reduced PCNA protein expression. (J) Western blotting demonstrated that transfection with miR-27a mimics significantly reduced cleaved-caspase-3 expression, while miR-27a inhibitors significantly increased cleaved-caspase-3 protein levels. Data are presented as the mean ± standard deviation. *P<0.05 vs. NC group. miR, microRNA; CCK-8, Cell Counting Kit-8; NC, negative control; PCNA, proliferating cell nuclear antigen; OD, optical density; UR, upper right; LR, lower right.