Figure 5.

Interaction between Cyth3 and miR-148a-3p or miR-22-3p. (a) The downstream mRNA targets of miR-148a-3p and miR-22-3p were predicted by the TargetScan v7.2 database, and Cyth3 was selected as the only candidate under the screening condition of a total context++ score ≤ −0.5. (b) Potential binding sites for miR-148a-3p or miR-22-3p in Cyth3 are shown. (c-d) The targeting relationship between Cyth3 and miR-148a-3p (c) or miR-22-3p (d) was verified by performing a luciferase reporter assay in HSCs. N = 3; **P< 0.01 compared to the mimic NC group; ^##P< 0.01 compared to the inhibitor NC group. (e) The expression levels of the Cyth3 mRNA and protein were elevated in CCl₄-induced mice but inhibited upon Neat1 knockdown. N = 6; **P< 0.01, compared with Control group; ^##P< 0.01, compared with CCl₄ group. (f) The miR-148a-3p or miR-22-3p inhibitor significantly increased the expression levels of the Cyth3 mRNA and protein in HSCs. N = 3; **P< 0.01, compared with inhibitor NC group