Figure 7.

Effects of miR-21 inhibition and/or TIMP3 silencing on cell apoptosis in HCC cell lines exposed to curcumin. HepG2 and HCCLM3 cells were transfected with miR-21 inhibitor and/or si-TIMP3 sequence for 6 h and then treated with 40 μM curcumin incubated for additional 24 h. (a, b) Apoptotic cells were detected by flow cytometry after stained with Annexin V-APC and Propidium Iodide in HepG2 and HCCLM3 cells, respectively. The experiment was repeated three times; results were shown as means ± standard deviation. ^∗∗P < 0.01 vs. control group; ^%%P < 0.01 vs. curcumin group; and ^##P < 0.01 vs. miR-21 inhibitor+ si-TIMP3+ Cur group.