Fig. 5

miR-3129-5p mimic transfection enhanced hBMSC osteoblast differentiation through downregulating SLC7A11. A Massive screening for miR-3129-5p putative target genes using three different databases. B–D Expression of miR-3129 (B), SLC7A11 (C), and osteoblast markers (D) in MSCs at 48h (B, C) and day 18 (D) after transfection with miR-3129-5p and miR-3129-3p mimics. The levels of miRNA and mRNA expression were quantified by qPCR. The amounts of miRNA and mRNA transcripts were expressed relative to the amounts of U6sn and GAPDH transcripts, respectively. E, F Alizarin Red S and alkaline phosphatase staining were performed in three independent experiments at day 21 after transfection of miR-3129 mimics (E), followed by quantification with ImageJ software (F). Data are expressed as mean ± SD from three independent experiments (each n=3 in B, C, D, E, and F). *p < 0.05, **p = 0.001, ***p < 0.001 vs. NC mimic by Student’s t-test. NC, negative control; OB, osteoblast; RQ, relative quantification