Fig. 5From: Circular RNA circ_0008365 regulates SOX9 by targeting miR-338-3p to inhibit IL-1β-induced chondrocyte apoptosis and extracellular matrix degradationSOX9 was a direct target of miR-338-3p. A Starbase online database was used to predict the binding sites between miR-338-3p and SOX9; B, C Relative luciferase activities were detected in 293 T and CHON-001 cells co-transfected with miR-NC or miR-338-3p and SOX9-3′UTR-WT or SOX9-3′UTR-MUT; D Western blot assays were used to examine the protein level of SOX9 in CHON-001 cells after miR-338-3p overexpression; E The knockdown efficiency of miR-338-3p inhibitor was detected by qRT-PCR; F The protein level of SOX9 was detected in CHON-001 cells after miR-338-3p knockdown; G The relative level of SOX9 was detected in OA cartilage tissues (n = 25) and normal tissues (n = 20) by qRT-PCR; H, I The correlation between SOX9 and miR-338-3p or circ_0008365 expression level in OA tissues was analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis; (J) The protein level of SOX9 was assessed in IL-1β-induced CHON-001 cells; (K) The protein level of SOX9 was measured by western blot in IL-1β-treated CHON-001 cells transfected with pcDNA, circ_0008365, circ_0008365 + miR-NC or circ_0008365 + miR-338-3p. **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001Back to article page