TSPAN17 is a potential target gene for miR-378a-3p. (A) Putative binding sites directly regulated by miR-378a-3p and the pattern of mutating the two binding sites (179–186 and 891–897) within TSPAN17 3′UTR. (B) Detection of the relative luciferase activity of miR-378a-3p mimic co-transfected with TSPAN17 3′UTR-wt or -mut by dual-luciferase reporter assay. (C) relative expression of TSPAN17 gene in U87MG and MT-330 cells treated with miR-378a-3p mimic or antagomir. (D) Representative blots for TSPAN17 and GAPDH, as well as the relative expression of TSPAN17 protein in U87MG and MT-330 cells treated with miR-378a-3p mimic or antagomir. Data are represented as mean ± standard deviation. All the data are representative of five independent experiments (n=5). miR, microRNA; mimic, miR-378a-3p mimic; mimic-NC, miR-378a-3p mimic negative control; antagomir, miR-378a-3p antagomir; anta-NC, miR-378a-3p antagomir negative control; mut, mutant; TSPAN17, tetraspanin 17; UTR, untranslated region; wt, wild-type.