Luciferase reporter assays revealed that transfection with the miR-106b-5p-mimic reduced the luciferase signals in both the ESCC cell lines with wild-type HPGD 3’-UTR plasmid; however, it did not affect the luciferase activity in the cells transfected with the mutant HPGD3’-UTR plasmid (Fig. 6B), indicating that miR-106b-5p directly targets HPGD. Here, HPGD is linked to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.