Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles Carrying MicroRNA-181c-5p Promote BMP2-Induced Repair of Cartilage Injury through Inhibition of SMAD7 Expression

Figure 4

Regulation of SMAD7 expression by miR-181c-5p in BMSCs. (a) Venn diagram of the intersection of predictive results of the target genes of miR-181c-5p from StarBase, TargetScan, PicTar, and microT. (b) Correlation bar graph of candidate target genes and cartilage analyzed by using a PH&Enolyzer tool. (c) Network map of coexpression relationship of candidate genes analyzed by using a PH&Enolyzer tool. (d) The binding sites of miR-181c-5p and SMAD7 predicted by the TargetScan database. (e) The targeting relationship between miR-181c-5p and SMAD7 verified by the dual-luciferase reporter gene assay. (f) miR-181c-5p expression and SMAD7 mRNA level in BMSCs treated with the miR-181c-5p mimic or inhibitor determined by RT-qPCR. (g) SMAD7 protein level in BMSCs treated with the miR-181c-5p mimic or inhibitor measured by Western blot analysis. , compared with BMSCs transduced with mimic-NC; ^#, compared with BMSCs transduced with inhibitor-NC. All experiments were repeated for three times.

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