Fig 1: miR-101 targets the 3’-UTR of dedicator of cytokinesis 4 (DOCK4) mRNA. (A,B) Levels of DOCK4, 5, and 7 relative to 18S rRNA in PASMCs transfected with control, miR-101 mimic (A), or anti-miR-101 (B) were measured by qRT-PCR. *, p < 0.05. (C,D) Total cell lysates from PASMCs transfected with control, miR-101 mimic (C), or anti-miR-101 (D) were subjected to immunoblot analysis with anti-DOCK4 or anti-ß-actin antibodies. By densitometry, relative amounts of DOCK4 protein normalized to ß-actin were quantitated. *, p < 0.05. (E) The luciferase activity of a construct containing the 3’-UTR of DOCK4 was examined in Cos7 cells by transfecting control or miR-101 mimic. A luciferase vector without 3’-UTR sequence (Vector) was used as a negative control. The data represent the mean ± S.E. of triplicates. *, p < 0.05. (F) Schematic diagram of the function of miR-101-mediated downregulation of DOCK4 in VSMCs.