MiR-301a promotes embryonic stem cell differentiation to cardiomyocytes

Figure 4 MiR-301a targets PTEN and activates the mTOR-STAT3 signaling pathway in the regulation of mouse embryonic stem cell differentiation. A: Plot of human PTEN mRNA vs mouse PTEN mRNA showing three predicted binding sites to miR-301a at the highly conserved 3’ untranslated region; B: Western blot analysis showing decreased expression of PTEN and increased expression of p-AKT, p-mTOR, and p-STAT3 by miR-301a overexpression in mouse embryonic stem cell-differentiated cardiomyocytes. Total AKT, total mTOR ,and total STAT3 did not show differences between the two groups; C: A semiquantitative analysis (normalized to GAPDH, miR-301a group vs control group) was applied to protein expression in B; D: Schematic representation of the hypothetical mechanism by which miR-301a regulates mouse embryonic stem cell differentiation to cardiomyocytes by targeting PTEN. Data are presented as the mean ± SE (n = 3). ^aP < 0.05, ^bP < 0.01.