Effect and related mechanisms of miR-101 on the chondrogenic differentiation of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were investigated. The expression level of miR-101 was detected during chondrogenic differentiation. Three groups were established to study the potential function between miR-101 and chondrogenic differentiation: miR-NC group (negative control), miR-101 mimics (BMSCs transfected by miR-101 mimics) and mimics + inhibitor (BMSCs transfected by miR-101 mimics and inhibitor), after the induction of chondrogenic differentiation, the cell viability of MSCs and chondrogenic markers were determined, further, the expression level of Sox9 and Runx2 were detected. In our present research, miR-101 was found upregulated during chondrogenic differentiation of MSCs. Compared with the miR-NC group, the cell viability of MSCs was enhanced and the expression level of chondrogenic markers were respectively gained. The expression level of Sox9 was increased but the expression level of Runx2 was decreased by treatment of miR-101 mimics after induction of chondrogenic differentiation. However, these variations of the indicators were reversed by the intervention using the miR-101 inhibitor. Collectively, our research revealed promotion function of miR-101 on chondrogenic differentiation of MSCs, indicating that miR-101 could be a potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA).
Keywords: SRY-related high mobility group-box gene9; chondrogenic differentiation; miR-101; osteoarthritis; runt-related transcription factor 2.