MiR-29a targets MCL-1 in NPM-ALK⁺ ALCL cells. (A) mRNA levels of Mcl-1 in ALK⁺ (19 cases) and ALK⁻ (12 cases) ALCL tumors by RT-qPCR. Three RLNs serve as controls. RQ of Mcl-1 was calculated using the S14 as standard control. P for ALK⁺ vs RLN and ALK⁺ vs ALK⁻ (*P < .05). MCL-1 endogenous expression in ALCL cell lines is shown in panel B by RT-qPCR with RQ plotted on a logarithmic scale and in panel C by Western blotting with the ratio of MCL-1/βactin. (D) MCL-1 protein levels were monitored 72 hours after Karpas-299, SU-DHL-1, and COST transfection with 1 or 2 (1:1 ratio) of the following: miR negative control, miR-29a, or LNA-anti–miR-29a. The long isoform of MCL-1 (40 kDa) was mainly detected. β-actin was used as a loading control to determine the relative expression of MCL-1 (long MCL-1 at 40 kDa and short MCL-1* at 28 kDa forms added) as the ratio of MCL-1/β actin. Data are representative of 3 independent experiments.