Fig. 4. miR-139-5p involvement in PTC cells is mediated by the modulation of LMO4.

a The binding sites of miR-139-5p in the 3′UTR of LMO4 were predicted. The mutated version of the LMO4 3′UTR is also shown. b The relative luciferase activity was determined 48 h after transfection with the miR-139-5p mimic/NC or the 3′UTR of LMO4 wt/mut in TPC-1 and BCPAP cells. c LMO4 levels were detected by RT-PCR in PTC tissues (n = 40) compared with paratumor tissue samples (n = 40). d The area under the ROC curve was 0.7594 (95% CI = 0.6519–0.8669, P < 0.0001). e The correlation between miR-139-5p and LMO4 expression in PTC tissues was determined by Spearman’s correlation analysis. f The expression of miR-139-5p and LMO4 was determined by RT-PCR in TPC-1 and BCPAP cells, in which miR-139-5p or LMO4 were overexpressed. g, h The expression of LMO4 was determined by RT-PCR and western blotting in TPC-1 and BCPAP cells in which miR-139-5p, LMO4, or both, were overexpressed. i Cell viability was determined by a CCK-8 assay in TPC-1 and BCPAP cells. Data indicate the mean ± SD, n = 3. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 vs. control and ^#P < 0.05, ^###P < 0.001 vs. miR-139-5p mimic