Fig. 6

FOXA1 is a direct target of miR-194-5p in HCC cells. a HepG2 cells that were transfected with miR-194-5p mimics or control mimics were subjected to qRT-PCR for mRNAs expression. miR-194-5p overexpression reduced the level of FOXA1 protein. b miR-194-5p restoration decreased the expression of FOXA1 protein in Hep3B cells. c Complementary sequence between miR-194-5p and wild type (wt) 3’UTR of FOXA1. The putative binding sites of miR-194-5p was mutated in 3’UTR of FOXA1 (mt FOXA1 3’UTR). HepG2 cells that were co-transfected with miR-194-5p mimics and wt or mt 3’UTR of FOXA1 were subjected to luciferase activity measurement. d HepG2 cells that were co-transfected with MCM3AP-AS1, miR-194-5p mimics and 3’UTR of FOXA1 were subjected to luciferase activity measurement. e MCM3AP-AS1 overexpression increased the expression of FOXA1, which was reduced by miR-194-5p restoration in SMMC-7721 cells. f miR-194-5p overexpression reduced the level of FOXA1, and this was reversed by MCM3AP-AS1 overexpression in HepG2 cells. *P < 0.05 by Student’s t-test