Fig. 5. LIN7A is a direct target of miR-501-3p in HCC cells.

a Venn diagrams showing the number of genes identified as potential targets of miR-501-3p. b Diagrams show the miR-501-3p putative binding sites and corresponding mutant sites of LIN7A. c HCCLM3 and PLC/PRF/5 cells that were transfected with corresponding miRNA vectors were subjected to qRT-PCR for LIN7A expression. **P < 0.01. d miR-501-3p overexpression reduced the expression of LIN7A protein in HCCLM3 cells and miR-501-3p knockdown increased the level of LIN7A protein in PLC/PRF/5 cells. **P < 0.01. e miR-501-3p overexpression significantly suppressed, whereas miR-501-3p loss increased the luciferase activity of LIN7A containing a wild-type (wt) of 3′-UTR but not a mutant (mt) 3′-UTR. **P < 0.01; n.s, no significance. f An inverse correlation between the levels of miR-501-3p and LIN7A mRNA was observed in HCC tissues. Data depicts the mean ± standard deviation and are representative of three independent experiments