MicroRNA Regulates the Osteogenic Differentiation of Human Periodontal Ligament Stem Cells by Targeting CTHRC1.

miRNA family has been proved as a key regulator of mesenchymal stem cells' (MSCs') biological features. However, whether could affect the differentiation or proliferation of periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) is still unknown. Here, we found that the expression of was visibly downregulated after mineralization induction of PDLSCs. After transfected with mimics or inhibitor reagent, the proliferation ability of PDLSCs was detected by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), flow cytometry, and 5-ethynyl-2-deoxyuridine (EdU) assay. On the other hand, the osteogenic differentiation capacity was detected by alkaline phosphatase (ALP) staining and activity, alizarin red staining, Western blot, and quantitative real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). We verified that did not significantly impact the proliferation ability of PDLSCs, but it could curb the osteogenic differentiation of PDLSCs. Besides, we predicted CTHRC1 acts as the downstream gene of to affect this process. Moreover, the combination of CTHRC1 and was verified by dual luciferase reporter assay. Our results demonstrated that the osteogenic differentiation of PDLSCs was enhanced after inhibiting , while was weakened after cotransfection with Si-CTHRC1. Collectively, can repress the osteogenic differentiation of PDLSCs by regulating CTHRC1.