Figure 3.

TGFBI is predicted to be a miR-21-5p target. (A) Graphical representation of the predicted duplex of the TGFBI 3′-UTR and miR-21-5p. The red sequence represents the miR-21-5p seed-recognition sequence in the 3′-UTR of TGFBI. The seed-recognition sequence is conserved. The predicted Gibbs free energy value is also listed. (B) Luciferase reporter assay. Firefly luciferase reporters which contain either WT or MUT miR-21-5p binding sites in the 3′-UTR of TGFBI were co-transfected into A549 cells with equal doses of the miR-21-5p mimic, control mimic, miR-21-5p inhibitor, or control inhibitor. The results were expressed as mean ± SD of three independent experiments (n=3; ***P<0.001). WT, wild-type; MUT, mutant.