Fig 1: MiR-24/miR-221 negatively regulate Caspase 8/3 through direct targetinga–b Wild-type (wt-) and mutated-type (mut-) luciferase reporter gene vectors (wt-caspase 3 named wt-CASP3, wt-caspase 8 named wt-CASP8, mut-caspase 3 named mut-CASP3, mut-caspase 8 named mut-CASP8) were constructed. Mut-CASP3 contains a 5 bp mutation in the predicted miR-221 binding site; mut-CASP8 contains a 5 bp mutation in the predicted miR-24 binding site. The above vectors were co-transfected into HEK293 cells with miR-24/miR-221 mimics or inhibitor; the luciferase activity was determined. c–d The mimics or inhibitor of miR-24 and miR-221 was transfected into HepG2R and Bel-7402R cells, respectively; the protein levels of caspase 3 or caspase 8 were determined using Western blot assays. The data are presented as mean ± SD of three independent experiments. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01