Fig. 9

Effects of miR-29b-3p mimic on the expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 mRNA in HaCaT cells exposed to Nano-Ni. HaCaT cells were transfected with 30 nM of miR-29b-3p mimic for 24 h, followed by 20 μg/mL of Nano-Ni treatment for another 24 h. Cells without treatment were used as control. A microRNA mimic negative control (miR-NC) was used to observe if there is any off-targeting effects of miR-29b-3p mimic. a shows the matching of seed sequence of miR-29b-3p with the 3′ untranslated region (3′ UTR) of both MMP-2 and MMP-9. The expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 mRNA was determined by real time-PCR (b & c). Data 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