Fig. 4

miR-497-5p and SOX9 are downstream targets of circ-PHC3. A Luciferase activity was normalized to that of Renilla luciferase. B Predicted binding sites of miR-497-5p in circ-PHC3. Both WT and MUT versions of circ-PHC3 are presented. C Relative luciferase activity determined 48 h after transfection of HEK293T cells with miR-497-5p mimic/NC or circ-PHC3 WT/Mut. Data are presented as means ± SD. **P < 0.01. D Predicted binding sites of miR-497-5p within the 3'UTR of SOX9. Both WT and MUT versions of 3'-UTR-SOX9 are shown. E Relative luciferase activity determined 48 h after transfection of HEK293T cells with miR-497-5p mimic/NC or 3'UTR-SOX93 WT/Mut. Data are presented as means ± SD. **P < 0.01. (F-K) RT-qPCR detection of expression of circ-PHC3, miR-497-5p and SOX9 after transfection with circ-PHC3 (F, G), miR-497-5p (H, I) and SOX9 (J, K) siRNA or overexpression vectors, either singly or in combination, in OV90 and SKOV3 cells. Data are presented as means ± SD; ^**P < 0.01, ^***P < 0.001 vs NC; ^##P < 0.01, ^###P < 0.001 vs si-circ-PHC3