Figure 4.

STAT3 is a direct target of miR-106a-5p in HUVECs. (A) STAT3 3′-UTR region containing the wt or mut binding site for miR-106a-5p. (B) HUVECs were co-transfected with either pMIR-STAT3-2-3-UTR or pMIR-STAT3-mut-3′-UTR, and miR-106a-5p mimic/inhibitor or corresponding NC and the relative luciferase activity were measured. **P<0.01; ^##P<0.01. HUVECs transfected with miR-106a-5p (C) mimic or (D) inhibitor and corresponding NC, the mRNA and protein level of STAT3 was measured using western blotting; β-actin was used as an internal control. **P<0.01 vs. mimics/inhibitor NC. (E) HUVECs transfected with si-STAT3 or si-Scramble, the STAT3 mRNA and protein level was detected using RT-qPCR and western blot analysis, respectively; β-actin was used as an internal control. **P<0.01 vs. si-Scramble. wt, wild-type; mut, mutant; STAT3, signal transducer and activator of transcription 3; miR, microRNA; HUVECs, human umbilical vein endothelial cells; NC, negative control; RT-qPCR, reverse transcription-quantitative PCR