Figure 4.

Overexpression of miR-29 promotes the proliferation of NSPCs. Single adhesive cultured NSPCs were transfected for 6 h with miR-NC, miR-29 mimic or miR-29 inhibitor using Lipofectamine 2000. In addition, the PTEN-specific inhibitor VO-OH was used to treat anti-miR-29 cells. (A) Proliferating cells were detected by BrdU incorporation and immunostaining. BrdU-labeled cells, green; propidium iodide, red. Scale bars=200 µm. (B) Data from three independent experiments (n=3) are presented as the percentage of BrdU-positive cells in the total population of propidium iodide-positive cells. *P<0.05, **P<0.01 vs. DMSO; ^###P<0.001 vs. anti-miR-29. (C) Proliferation index of transfected cells as determined by cell cycle analysis. Proliferation index=(S + G₂/M)/[G₀/G₁ + (S+G₂/M)]. Data are presented as the mean ± standard deviation of three independent experiments. *P<0.05 vs. DMSO group; ^###P<0.001 vs. anti-miR-29. NSPC, neural stem/progenitor cell; miR-29, microRNA-29; anti-miR-29, miR-29 inhibitor; miR-NC, microRNA negative control; Ctrl, treatment with miRNA-free medium; DMSO, dimethyl sulfoxide; PTEN, phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome 10; VO-OH, VO-OHpic trihydrate; p-, phosphorylated.