Long Noncoding RNA and mRNA m6A Modification Analyses of Periodontal Ligament Stem Cells from the Periodontitis Microenvironment Exposed to Static Mechanical Strain

Weifu Sun; Jia Liu; Xu Zhang; Xiaochen Zhang; Jie Gao; Xin Chen; Xian Wang; Wen Qin; Zuolin Jin

doi:10.1155/2022/6243004

Long Noncoding RNA and mRNA m6A Modification Analyses of Periodontal Ligament Stem Cells from the Periodontitis Microenvironment Exposed to Static Mechanical Strain

Stem Cells Int. 2022 Nov 29:2022:6243004. doi: 10.1155/2022/6243004. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Weifu Sun¹, Jia Liu¹, Xu Zhang¹, Xiaochen Zhang¹, Jie Gao¹, Xin Chen¹, Xian Wang¹, Wen Qin¹, Zuolin Jin¹

Affiliation

¹ State Key Laboratory of Military Stomatology and National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases and Shanxi Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, Department of Orthodontics, School of Stomatology, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710032, China.

Abstract

Periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) play important roles in orthodontic tooth movement (OTM) and can respond to mechanical stress. Our previous study demonstrated that periodontal ligament stem cells derived from periodontitis tissue (pPDLSCs) are more sensitive to static mechanical strain (SMS) than those derived from healthy tissue (hPDLSCs) and reported the long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) expression profiles of pPDLSCs exposed to SMS. An increasing number of lncRNAs have been reported by various studies to be associated with the osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells. Many studies have demonstrated that the n6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification exerts important effects on lncRNA and mRNA regulation of cell behaviors. However, the regulatory effects of lncRNA and mRNA m6A modification on PDLSCs have not been studied. Therefore, we performed an m6A microarray assay with pPLDSCs and hPDLSCs exposed to 12% SMS and found that 143 lncRNAs and 739 mRNAs were differentially methylated. These RNAs were thought to be involved in multiple differentiation and inflammatory responses. Moreover, we found that METTL3, an essential protein in the m6A system, was expressed at lower levels in the strain-exposed pPDLSCs than in strain-exposed hPLDSCs, and METTL3 promoted the osteogenic differentiation of pPDLSCs.