Research Paper Volume 12, Issue 13 pp 13005—13022

Figure 3. MiR-124 inhibits the mRNA translation of p38 by directly binding to its 3’-untranslated region (UTR). (A) MiR-124 mimics and inhibitor had no obvious effect on the mRNA expression of p38 in foam cells. (B) MiR-124 mimics and inhibitor had reverse effects on the protein expression of p38 in foam cells. MiR-124 mimics reduced while miR-124 inhibitor elevated the protein level of p38 as compared to the controls. (C) Western blot analysis of MAPK signaling proteins in aorta of atherosclerosis mice and control mice. (D) Western blot analysis of MAPK signaling proteins in RAW264.7 cells transfected with miR-124 mimics or miR-124 inhibitor. GAPDH was used as an internal reference in qRT-PCR assay. β-actin was used as an internal reference in Western blot. *, P < 0.05, ***, P < 0.001 compared with control group.