Identification of miR-145-5p in targeting SOX9 to regulate the intestinal mucosal barrier function. a, Target binding sequences of miR-145-5p in the wild-type (WT) and mutant (MUT) 3’-UTR of human SOX9. b, Luciferase activity in 293T cells co-transfected with miR-145-5p mimic and luciferase reporters containing SOX9. c, miR-145-5p mimic downregulates SOX9 expression in NCM460, Caco-2 and SW480 cells. d, miR-145-5p inhibitor upregulates SOX9 expression in Caco-2, NCM460, and SW480 cells. e-f, TEER and FD4 Permeability of the Caco-2 cell monolayer. All Data are shown as means ± SEM in (a), (b), (c) and (d). Student's t-test and one-way ANOVA were used for comparison, respectively. ns: no significant difference, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001 as compared with the control.