The PCR conditions were 95 °C for 5 min, followed by 50 cycles of 95 °C for 30 sec, 55 °C for 30 sec, and 72

°C for 30 sec. The expression of β-actin gene was also quantified in a similar way for normalization. Comparative delta-delta CT method was used to analyze the results where expression level of the respective gene at the corresponding time point in non-transfected cells was regarded as one [39, 40]. Each experiment was performed in triplicate. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) measurement of TGF-β2 protein level Cell culture supernatant was collected at 24 hours post-infection for the analysis of TGF-β2 expression. The total TGF-β2 protein level was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (Emax® ImmunoAssay System, Promega, Madison, WI, USA) according to the manufacturer’s procedures. this website Each experiment was performed in triplicate. Reverse transfection of a mimic or an inhibitor of miR-141 The cells were transfected in suspension after trypsinisation with 60 nM anti-miR, pre-miR or negative control (Applied Biosystems). For the assay, 1×105 cells per mL were transfected per well of a 24-well plate. Transfection complexes were prepared in OptiMEM (Invitrogen) with 1.5 μL/24-well of siPORT NeoFx transfection agent (Ambion, Austin, TX, USA). At 24 hours post-transfection, the cells were lysed for qRT-PCR analysis or EX 527 purchase subjected

to H1N1 or H5N1 virus infection. The transfection efficiency was calculated from the percentage of fluorescent cells that were observed using florescence microscopy after the transfection of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled short nucleotide primers in separate controls. The transfection efficiency was about 78.2 ± 6.3% Interleukin-2 receptor (mean ± SD), which was considered to be adequate for the functional analyses. The human miR-1 miRNA was also used as a positive control. In this control, the human miR-1 miRNA mimic effectively down-regulated the expression of twinfilin-1 (also known as PTK9) by 80% at the mRNA level as detected by real-time PCR using TaqMan® Gene Expression Assays (Applied Biosystems) for PTK9. This positive control proved

the effective delivery and activity of Pre-miR miRNA Precursor. We therefore used this model in further functional experiments. Each experiment was performed in triplicate. Acknowledgements This study was supported by the Research Fund for the Control of Infectious Diseases, Food and Health Bureau, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. We thank Prof. Pilaipan Puthavathana for the provision of A/Thailand/1(KAN-1)/2004(H5N1) isolate. References 1. World Health Organization: 26 April 2013, posting date. Cumulative number of confirmed human cases of avian influenza A/(H5N1) reported to WHO. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2003–2013. 2. Chan PK: Outbreak of avian influenza A(H5N1) virus infection in Hong Kong in 1997. Clin Infect Dis 2002,34(Suppl 2):S58-S64.PubMedCrossRef 3.