Journal: Nature Communications
Article Title: Differential TGFβ pathway targeting by miR-122 in humans and mice affects liver cancer metastasis
doi: 10.1038/ncomms11012
Figure Lengend Snippet: ( a ) Luciferase activity was measured after transfection of the indicated reporter constructs. TGFβ1 5′UTR was cloned into the promoter region of a pGL plasmid. Rhesus, Rhesus monkey. Six independent repeats are performed in each experiment. ( b ) The evolutionary trajectory of the miR-122 target site in the TGFβ1 5′UTR in animals. The gain of the miR-122 target site occurs in the common ancestor of the manatee and humans as well as other primates (black arrow), while the loss of this site in the pig, dog, rat or mouse due to the insertion of a few of bases between the 11th and 12th bases (red arrow). The dot means the nucleotide is identical to the one in humans, and the red line means the insertion of one or a few of bases. For the predicted miR-122 target site in each species, the luciferase assay was performed. ‘+' denotes the silence effect, and ‘−' denotes no silence effect. Experimental data were shown in . ( c ) Expression levels of TGFβ1 or TGFβR1 in C5.18 (rat cells) or LLC-PK1 (pig cells) transfected with an miR-122 expression plasmid or NC. Quantitative analysis is shown below and three independent repeats are performed in each experiment. ( d ) Luciferase activity was measured after transfection with the indicated reporter constructs. The candidate sequences (see for the sequences) were cloned in the CDS of a fusion protein of luciferase and eGFP. NC, negative control; PC, positive control; Rhes., Rhesus monkey. Six independent repeats are performed in each experiment. ( e ) The evolutionary trajectory of the miR-122 target site in the TGFβR1 CDSs in animals. Three events are involved in the gain and loss of target sites, that is, a G–>A mutation (red), A–>G mutation (blue) and a G–>A mutation (green). The dot means the nucleotide is identical to the one in humans. For the predicted miR-122 target site in each species, the luciferase assay was performed. ‘+' denotes the silence effect, and ‘−' denotes no silence effect. Experimental data were shown in . Error bars, ±s.d. ** P <0.01; *** P <0.001 by two-sided Student's t -test.
Article Snippet: The membranes were probed with antibodies against TGFβ1 (R&D, cat. # MAB240), TGFβ2 (R&D, cat. # MAB612), TGFβ3 (R&D, cat. # MAB643), TGFβR1 (R&D, cat. # MAB5871), Smad2 (Cell Signaling Technology, cat. # 3103S), Phospho-Smad2 (Cell Signaling Technology, cat. # 3101S), E-cadherin (Cell Signaling Technology, cat. # 3195S), vimentin (Abcam, cat. # Ab8978) or β-actin (Santa Cruz, cat. # SC-7210).
Techniques: Luciferase, Activity Assay, Transfection, Construct, Clone Assay, Plasmid Preparation, Expressing, Negative Control, Positive Control, Mutagenesis