Research Paper Volume 12, Issue 20 pp 20198—20211

Figure 2. The LPS-induced acute inflammation of alveolar macrophages (NR8383) in mice was reduced after miR-7b overexpression. The predicted miRNA targeting NLRP3 (2 intersecting miRNAs) based on DIANA, RNA22, microDB, microWalk, and microRNA. org (A). miR-7b and miR-223 expression in NR8383 cells and lung tissues of mice with or without LPS induction detected by RT-qPCR (N = 10) (B). Dual luciferase reporter gene assay verified the targeting relationship between miR-7b and NLRP3 (C). RT-qPCR for efficiency of miR-7b overexpression (D). Expression of NLRP3 after overexpression of miR-7b detected by RT-qPCR and Western blot analysis (normalized to GAPDH) (E–F). The levels of cytokines IL-18 and IL-1β detected by ELISA (G). The protein expression of caspase-1, TNF-α and IL-6 expression normalized to GAPDH detected by Western blot analysis (H). * p < 0.05 vs. PBS + NR8383, normal or NC mimic. Measurement data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation. Comparison between two groups was conducted using unpaired t-test. The experiments were repeated three times independently.