Figure 4.

miR-16-1-3p directly targets Twist1

(A) Sequence alignment shows the relative position of the miR-16-1-3p binding site in the 3′ UTR of Twist1 and the mutated nucleotides are indicated. The sequences were used to construct luciferase reporter plasmids. (B) SMMC-7721 cells were transfected with plasmids pGL-3-Twist1-wt or mut, along with miR-16-1-3p mimic or control. Dual luciferase assay was assayed at 24 h later. Luciferase activity was normalized to Renilla and presented as relative to miR control (arbitrarily set at 1). Data are presented as means ± SD. of three independent experiments. *, p < 0.05, **, p < 0.01.