Propofol induces ferroptosis and inhibits malignant phenotypes of gastric cancer cells by regulating miR-125b-5p/STAT3 axis

Figure 4 Propofol represses signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)3 expression by upregulating miR-125b-5p in gastric cancer cells. A: SGC7901 and BGC823 cells were treated with propofol (10 µmol/L). Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) measured expression of miR-125b-5p. B: The binding site of miR-125b-5p and STAT3 3’ UTR was identified by bioinformatic analysis using Targetscan (http://www.targetscan.org/vert_72/). C–E: SGC7901 and BGC823 cells were treated with the miR-125b-5p mimic or control mimic. C and D: Luciferase reporter gene assays determined the luciferase activities. E: qRT-PCR analyzed mRNA expression of STAT3. F: SGC7901 and BGC823 cells were treated with propofol, or cotreated with propofol and miR-125b-5p inhibitor. Western blotting assessed protein expression of STAT3 and β-actin. n = 3, mean ± SD, ^bP < 0.01.