18β-glycyrrhetinic acid inhibits proliferation of gastric cancer cells through regulating the miR-345-5p/TGM2 signaling pathway

Figure 1 Flow chart. In this study, we revealed 18β-glycyrrhetinic acid (18β-GRA)’s effect on gastric cancer (GC) cells phenotype and tumor formation in nude mice, and 18β-GRA’s effect on GC cells autophagy. We used TMT proteomic analysis and the STRING database to predict the differentially expressed autophagy-related proteins and their interactions. Later, we verified the link between miR-345-5p and TGM2 using a dual-luciferase reporter assay. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to detect expression of miR-345-5p, western blot was used to detect autophagy-related proteins, and lentivirus transfection technique verified the effect of miR-345-5p on TGM2. LV-NC: Empty lentiviral vector.