Hsa-MicroRNA miRanda miRDB miRWalk RNA22 Targetscan Average Signal Intensity in HepG2 cells [16] Average Signal Intensity in Human Liver Sample [15] miR-18a 1 0 1 1 1 6.939 8.10 miR-18b 1 0 1 1 1 5.305 2.86 miR-146a 1 1 1 0 1 0.052 8.70 miR-146b-5p 1 1 1 0 1 0.052 7.40 miR-181a 1 0 1 1 1 3.751 10.45 miR-181b  1 0 1 1 1 4.592 8.94 miR-181c 1 0 1 1 1 2.203 2.27 miR-181d 1 0 1 1 1 2.485 2.62 miR-198 1 1 1 1 1 1.286 2.06 miR-22 1 0 1 1 1 8.602 12.55 miR-23a 1 1 1 0 1 10.945 11.98 miR-23b 1 1 1 0 1 8.885 13.47 miR-205 1 0 1 1 1 0.052 1.60 miR-324-5p 1 1 1 1 1 6.078 7.17 miR-330-3p 1 1 1 0 1 2.820 3.23 miR-331-3p 1 1 1 0 1 6.541 5.27 miR-380 1 1 1 0 1 0.052 1.86 miR-488 1 0 1 1 1 0.052 1.94 miR-515-3p 1 0 1 1 1 0.052 1.57 miR-522 1 1 1 0 1 0.052 1.68 miR-545 1 1 1 0 1 2.773 1.63 miR-590-3p 1 1 1 0 1 0.052 1.72 miR-610 1 1 1 0 1 0.052 1.64 miR-648 1 1 1 0 1 0.052 2.39 miR-802 1 1 1 0 1 0.052 1.67

Table 1: miRNAs predicted to target the 3’UTR of AQP9. A total of 25 miRNAs with the highest number of database predictions is shortlisted. Expression level of the 25 miRNAs in human liver sample as well as in HepG2 cells is shown. Among these, miR-22, miR-23a and miR-23b (in bold italics) were found to be highly expressed in both liver tissue and HepG2 cells.