miR-373-3p Targets DKK1 to Promote EMT-Induced Metastasis via the Wnt/-Catenin Pathway in Tongue Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Figure 4

DKK1, a repressor of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, is a direct target of miR-373-3p. (a) The sequence of miR-373-3p matches the 3′-UTR of DKK1 (top). Bottom, mutations of the 3′-UTR of DKK1. (b) DKK1 protein expression was assessed in SCC-9 and UM1 cells transfected with the miR-373-3p mimic or a miR-373-3p inhibitor by Western blot analysis. (c) miR-373-3p inhibited wild-type but not mutated DKK1 3′-UTR luciferase reporter activity. (d) Silencing of DKK1 rescued the antagomiR-373-3p-mediated TOP/FOP luciferase reporter activity suppression. (e) Pearson’s correlation scatter plot of the fold change of the levels of miR-373-3p and DKK1 mRNA in 10 recurrent TSCC tissue samples , ). The data are presented as the mean ± s.d. of three independent experiments. ; .

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