Fig. 10

Effects of miR-29b-3p mimic on Nano-Ni-induced MMP-2 and MMP-9 activities. Conditioned medium samples were collected after HaCaT cells were transfected with miR-29b-3p mimic for 24 h prior to exposure to 20 μg/mL of Nano-Ni for another 24 h. MMP-2 and MMP-9 activities were measured by gelatin zymography assay. A microRNA mimic negative control (miR-NC) was used to see if there are any off-targeting effects of miR-29b-3p mimic. The results represent mean ± SE (n = 3). * Significant difference as compared with the control group, p < 0.05; ^# significant difference as compared with the group with Nano-Ni treatment and negative control miR-NC transfection, p < 0.05