Fig. 5

ZBTB18 is a direct target gene of miR-155-5p in HCC. a A predicted binding site of miR-155-5p within ZBTB18 by bioinformatic analysis using the StarBase 3.0 (http://starbase.sysu.edu.cn/). Luciferase activity was determined in SK-hep1 and SNU-387 cells after transfection with miR-155-5p mimic or miRNA negative control (miR-NC). b, c qRT-PCR and western blotting analysis were used to determine ZBTB18 expression in SK-hep1 and SNU-387 cells transfected with miR-NC/miR-155-5p inhibitor or scramble/miR-155-5p mimics. d Relative mRNA expression of ZBTB18 in HCC tissues and adjacent normal tissues was evaluated using qRT-PCR. e Pearson correlation analysis between miR-155-5p and ZBTB18 expressions in 90 pairs of HCC tissues. f Kaplan–Meier analysis was used to analyze the association between expression of ZBTB18 and the overall survival rate of HCC patients. Data are from three independent experiments and shown as mean ± SD., **P < 0.01; ns, no significance