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

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.