Department of Stomatology, Nanfang Hospital, College of Stomatology, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, P.R. China.
Int J Mol Med. 2012 Aug;30(2):295-301. doi: 10.3892/ijmm.2012.982. Epub 2012 Apr 25.
Members of the let-7 family have been shown to play a critical role in cell differentiation and tumorigenesis. However, potential targets of let-7 are still unclear. In the current study, we used bioinformatic analysis combined with DNA sequence analysis to identify potential let-7 targets. We discovered that dentin matrix protein 1 (DMP1), which is a non-collagenous protein essential in the mineralization of dentin and bone, has a let-7 binding site in its 3'-untranslated region. Furthermore, reporter assays demonstrated that the DMP1 3'-untranslated region can be regulated directly by the members of let-7. Gene expression levels of let-7 and DMP1 were validated by qRT-PCR of dental pulp cells cultured in a mineralizing medium. Our results suggest that DMP1 is regulated post-transcriptionally by let-7 during odontoblast differentiation.
let-7 家族成员在细胞分化和肿瘤发生中起着关键作用。然而，let-7 的潜在靶标尚不清楚。在本研究中，我们使用生物信息学分析结合 DNA 序列分析来鉴定潜在的 let-7 靶标。我们发现牙本质基质蛋白 1（DMP1），一种在牙本质和骨矿化中必不可少的非胶原蛋白，在其 3'-非翻译区有一个 let-7 结合位点。此外，报告基因实验表明，DMP1 的 3'-非翻译区可被 let-7 成员直接调控。通过在矿化培养基中培养牙髓细胞的 qRT-PCR 验证了 let-7 和 DMP1 的基因表达水平。我们的结果表明，在成牙本质细胞分化过程中，DMP1 受 let-7 的转录后调控。
