Long non-coding RNA H19 promotes osteogenic differentiation of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells by regulating microRNA-140-5p/SATB2 axis

ABSTRACT

The osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has potential clinical values in the treatmentof bone-related diseases. Long non-coding RNA H19 and microRNA-140-5p (miR-140-5p) have attractedmuch attention of researchers by virtue of their biological importance in cell differentiation and bone formation. Moreover, bioinformatics analyses suggest that miR-140-5p have the potential to bind with H19 andSATB homeobox 2 (SATB2). In this study, we further explored whether H19 could regulate osteogenicdifferentiation of human bone marrow-derived MSCs (BM-MSCs) by miR-140-5p/SATB2 axis. RT-qPCRassay was conducted to examine the expression of H19, miR-140-5p and SATB2. The osteogenic differentiation capacity of BM-MSCs was assessed through alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and osteogenic markerexpression. The relationships among H19, miR-140-5p and SATB2 were examined through bioinformaticsanalyses, luciferase reporter assay, RIP assay and RNA pull-down assay. H19 expression was remarkablyincreased and miR-140-5p expression was dramatically reduced during osteogenic differentiation of BMMSCs. Functional analyses revealed that H19 overexpression or miR-140-5p depletion accelerated osteogenicdifferentiation of BM-MSCs. Conversely, H19 loss or miR-140-5p increase suppressed osteogenic differentiation of BM-MSCs. MiR-140-5p was confirmed as a target of H19, and miR-140-5p could bind to SATB2 aswell. Moreover, H19 knockdown reduced SATB2 expression by upregulating miR-140-5p. Additionally, miR140-5p depletion antagonized the inhibitory effect of H19 knockdown on osteogenic differentiation of BMMSCs. And, miR-140-5p inhibited osteogenic differentiation of BM-MSCs by targeting SATB2. In conclusion,H19 promoted osteogenic differentiation of BM-MSCs through regulating miR-140-5p/SATB2 axis, deepeningour understanding on the molecular mechanisms of H19 in coordinating osteogenesis.