Department of Operative Dentistry and Endodontics, Guanghua School of Stomatology and Institute of Stomatological Research, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
J Endod. 2012 Oct;38(10):1348-54. doi: 10.1016/j.joen.2012.06.016. Epub 2012 Aug 1.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play momentous roles in various biological processes including cell differentiation. However, little is known about the role of miRNAs in human dental pulp cells (hDPCs) during odontogenic differentiation. The aims of this study were to investigate the expression of miRNAs in the primary culture of hDPCs when incubated in odontogenic medium.
The potential characteristics of hDPCs were investigated by miRNA microarray and real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Bioinformatics (ie, target prediction, Gene Ontology analysis, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes mapping tools) were applied for predicting the complementary target genes of miRNAs and their biological functions.
A total of 22 miRNAs were differentially expressed in which 12 miRNAs up-regulated and 10 miRNAs down-regulated in differentiated hDPCs compared with the control. The target genes of differential miRNAs were predicted to associate with several biological functions and signaling pathways including the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and the Wnt signaling pathway.
The differential expression miRNAs may be involved in governing hDPC odontogenic differentiation, thus contributing to the future investigations of regulatory mechanisms in reparative dentin formation and dental pulp regeneration.
微小 RNA（miRNA）在细胞分化等多种生物学过程中发挥重要作用。然而，人们对其在人类牙髓细胞（hDPC）成牙分化过程中的作用知之甚少。本研究旨在探讨在成牙诱导培养基中培养的 hDPC 原代培养物中 miRNA 的表达情况。
通过 miRNA 微阵列和实时逆转录聚合酶链反应检测 hDPC 的潜在特征。生物信息学（即互补靶基因预测、基因本体分析和京都基因与基因组百科全书映射工具）用于预测 miRNA 的互补靶基因及其生物学功能。
共有 22 个 miRNA 在分化的 hDPC 中差异表达，其中 12 个 miRNA 上调，10 个 miRNA 下调。差异 miRNA 的靶基因预测与多种生物学功能和信号通路有关，包括丝裂原活化蛋白激酶（MAPK）和 Wnt 信号通路。
差异表达的 miRNA 可能参与调控 hDPC 成牙分化，从而有助于进一步研究修复性牙本质形成和牙髓再生的调控机制。
