Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

MiR-423-5p downregulates osteoblastic differentiation and cell viability by targeting SMAD3 in non-traumatic osteonecrosis

Ju Zheng¹, Xuegang Yan¹, Yun Zeng²

¹Department of Orthopaedics, Medicalservice Community of People's Hospital of Fenghuaningbo, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province 315500; ²Department of Orthopaedics, Dongfeng Hospital Affiliated with Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, Hubei Province 442008, China.

For correspondence:- Yun Zeng Email: yzeng666@163.com Tel:+867198272457

Accepted: 26 February 2021 Published: 31 March 2021

Citation: Zheng J, Yan X, Zeng Y. MiR-423-5p downregulates osteoblastic differentiation and cell viability by targeting SMAD3 in non-traumatic osteonecrosis. Trop J Pharm Res 2021; 20(3):567-572 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v20i3.18

© 2021 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the potential role of miR-423-5p in osteoblastic differentiation of non-traumatic osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH).

Methods: MiR-423-5p levels in bone marrow samples from ONFH and osteoarthritis (OA) patients, respectively, were evaluated using quantitative (real-time) polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Osteoblastic differentiation was monitored using Alizarin red S staining, while cell viability was determined by MTT assay in hMSC-BM. MiR-423-5p expression was also measured during osteoblastic differentiation. The underlying mechanisms were explored using TargetScan database, and a series of in vitro experiments was performed to confirm this.

Results: MiR-423-5p levels were significantly upregulated in ONFH samples (p < 0.01) and miR-423-5p expression significantly increased in human mesenchymal stem cells-bone marrow (hMSC-BM) after bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2) treatment. Furthermore, miR-423-5p downregulated osteoblastic differentiation and suppressed cell viability. Furthermore, SMAD3 was observed to be a downstream target of miR-423-5p via bioinformatics analysis; further in vitro experiments confirmed this.

Conclusion: MiR-423-5p downregulates osteoblastic differentiation and cell viability by targeting SMAD3 in non-traumatic osteonecrosis. Thus, MiR-423-5p may serve as a potential target for promoting osteoblastic differentiation in ONFH patients.

Keywords: MiR-423-5p, Non-traumatic osteonecrosis, Femoral head, Osteoblastic differentiation, Cell viability, SMAD3