Fig. 4

Restored miR-494 downregulates TGIF1 expression to inhibit ESCC cell malignant phenotypes. A Venn diagram displaying the intersection of target genes of miR-494 from StarBase, mirDIP and miRanda databases. B A box plot displaying expression of 4 candidate genes (NOVA1, ZC3H7A, DNAJA2 and TGIF1) in ESCC and normal samples from the UALCAN database. C Expression of TGIF1 in ESCC tissues and adjacent tissues detected by RT-qPCR. n = 79. *p < 0.05 vs. adjacent tissues. D Binding of miR-494 to TGIF1 confirmed by dual-luciferase reporter gene assay in HEK-293T cells. *p < 0.05 vs. the HEK-293T cells transfected with mimic NC. E TGIF1 expression in EC9706 and Eca109 cells transfected with miR-494 inhibitor. *p < 0.05 vs. cells transfected with inhibitor NC. F Expression of miR-494 and TGIF1 in EC9706 and Eca109 cells transfected with miR-494 mimic or in combination with oe-TGIF1. G EC9706 and Eca109 cell proliferation following transfection with miR-494 mimic or in combination with oe-TGIF1. H EC9706 and Eca109 cell apoptosis following transfection with miR-494 mimic or in combination with oe-TGIF1. I EC9706 and Eca109 cell migration following transfection with miR-494 mimic or in combination with oe-TGIF1. J EC9706 and Eca109 cell invasion following transfection with miR-494 mimic or in combination with oe-TGIF1. K Protein levels of cleaved caspase-3, total caspase-3, MMP-2 and MMP-9 normalized to GAPDH in EC9706 and Eca109 cells transfected with miR-494 mimic or in combination with oe-TGIF1. In Panel F-K, * p < 0.05 vs. cells transfected with mimic-NC + oe-NC. #p < 0.05 vs. cells transfected with miR-494 mimic + oe-NC. Measurement data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation derived from at least 3 independent experiments. Data between ESCC and adjacent tissues were compared by paired t test while data comparison between other two groups was analyzed by unpaired t test. Data comparison among multiple groups was conducted by one-way ANOVA, followed by Tukey’s post hoc test