Next, to determine whether Pim-3 is a direct target of miR-33a in pancreatic cancer, PCI55 and MiaPaca-2 cells were co-transfected with the miRNA mimics together with a luciferase reporter plasmid containing the wild-type 3′UTR of Pim-3 or the same region harboring a mutation in the miR-33a seed sequence (Δ3′UTR; Figure 4D). Here, PIM3 is linked to familial pancreatic carcinoma.