1). H69 human cholangiocytes were transfected with 50 nM (final dilution) of either miR-506 precursor oligonucleotides, miRNA precursor (pre-miRNA) negative control (both from Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA), or vehicle using the siPORT NeoFX Transfection Agent, AM-4511 (Applied Biosystems). After 48 hours, changes in the protein expression of AE2 or CK19 were detected (Supporting Materials). A 175-base-pair DNA amplicon of the 3′UTR region of human AE2 mRNA with the miR-506 target site was obtained by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using specific Selleckchem MS 275 oligonucleotides

(forward 5′-CCCAAGCTTCCGCCACCGAGGGACAGC-3′ and reverse 5′-GACTAGTAGGTGGGGGCCAAAGCAC-3′). Subcloning of this fragment into the pMIR-REPORT Luciferase vector (Applied Biosystems) resulted in the cytomegalovirus (CMV)-driven expression construct, Luc-AE2-3′UTR. The mutated reporter construct, Luc-mut-AE2-3′UTR, was then obtained through site-directed mutagenesis of the putative miR-506 target site (wild-type [WT] 5′-CAGTAAAGTGCTTTG-3′

mutated 5′-TGATGAAGGGCTGCG-3′). H69 human cholangiocytes were cotransfected with either the WT or the selleckchem mutated reporter construct, together with miR-506 precursor oligonucleotides, using FuGENE-HD Transfection Reagent (Promega, Fitchburg, WI). Briefly, 3 μL of FuGENE were added to 97 μL of Opti-MEM (modified Eagle’s medium) and incubated for 5 minutes at room temperature. Then, 50 nM (final dilution) of miR-506 precursor oligonucleotides (or pre-miRNA negative control) were added to the FuGENE/Opti-MEM mixture, incubated again for 15 minutes, and applied to the human cholangiocytes under suspension. Luciferase activity was assessed 24 hours after transfection using the Luciferase Assay Kit, E151A (Promega), in a NOVOstar Apparatus (BMG LABTECH GmbH, Ortenberg, Germany). Luciferase activity was normalized to TK Renilla construct as previously reported.30 H69, PBC, and normal

human cholangiocytes were examined for their AE2 activity12 by microfluorimetry13 (Supporting Materials). Experiments were 上海皓元医药股份有限公司 carried out in cells 48 hours after their transfection with 50 nM (final dilution) of either pre-miR-506, pre-miR negative control, or anti-miR-506 commercial oligonucleotides (all from Applied Biosystems), or vehicle. Total RNA was isolated from both freshly cultured cholangiocytes and whole liver tissue with TRI-Reagent (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO). Aliquots (200 ng) were reverse-transcribed into complementary DNA (cDNA) using the TaqMan MicroRNA Reverse Transcription Kit and commercial miR-specific primers (Applied Biosystems) in a total volume of 15 μL. Expression levels of four particular miRNAs (i.e.