Fig. 6. The 3′UTR region of THBS2 is a direct target of miR-221-3p.

a Bioinformatic prediction and screening of potential miRNAs targeting miR-221-3p; incomplete complementation of the base of miR-221-3p to the 3′UTR region of THBS2 mRNA. Also shown are nucleotides mutated in THBS2 mutant 3′UTR. b Luciferase activity of wild-3′UTR-THBS2-luc and mutant 3′UTR-THBS2-luc constructs in SiHa or 293 T cells after transfection of miR-221-3p mimic. c Western blotting analysis of the expression of THBS2 in SiHa and HeLa cells transfected with miR-221-3p mimic, miR-221-3p inhibitor, miR-221-3p mimic-nc, and miR-221-3p inhibitor-nc. β-actin was used as loading control. d The HSCOREs of THBS2 in different cervical specimens (left), and correlation of THBS2 staining and miR-221-3p was analyzed (right). e Normal cervical tissues with high THBS2 expression. Human CC tumors with low THBS2 expression. *p < 0.05