Research Paper Volume 11, Issue 16 pp 6014—6028

Figure 3. miR-146b negatively regulates the expression of A₂M. (A) miR-146b aligned with the 3′UTR of A₂M mRNA. (B) chondrocytes co-transfected with a reporter carrying the wild type (wt) A₂M 3′UTR along with miR-146b mimics. The A₂M mutant (mu) recombinant vector was used as positive control. Targeting effect was measured by luciferase assay. (C) Immunohistochemical analysis of A₂M expression in smooth OA cartilage and damaged OA cartilage. Scale bar: 100μm. The protein (D) levels of A₂M expression in chondrocytes transfected with miR-146b-mimic and miR-146b-inhibitor were evaluated by western blot. *P<0.05.