Fig. 4

SNHG12 directly interacted with miR-199a/b-5p and served as a sponge. a Wild type and mutant SNHG12 sequences were cloned into pMir-Reporter vectors and co-transfected with miR-199a/b-5p mimic or miR-NC into SK-Hep1 cells. The relative luciferase activity was normalized with renilla luciferase activity. b Use of the StarBase and miRcode databases showed that the putative binding sites for both miR-199a/b-5p and the Ago2 protein at SNHG12 is highly conserved in human, rhesus, mouse, dog and elephant. c RNA immunoprecipitation with the anti-Ago2 antibody was used to assess endogenous Ago2 binding to RNA. The levels of SNHG12 and miR-199a/b-5p were detected by qPCR. d ChIRP assay followed by RT-qPCR to detect miR-199a/b-5p. e and f SNHG12 functioned as a sponge for miR-199a/b-5p and activated the NF-κB pathway which promoted the tumorigenesis in HCC. Data represented the mean ± SD from three independent experiments. *P < 0.05; NS: no significance