Bone marrow fatty acids affect osteoblastic differentiation through miR-92b-3p in the early stages of postmenopausal osteoporosis

Sizhu Wang; Cuisong Tang; Jieying Chen; Huan Tang; Lin Zhang; Guangyu Tang

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16513

Bone marrow fatty acids affect osteoblastic differentiation through miR-92b-3p in the early stages of postmenopausal osteoporosis

Heliyon. 2023 May 22;9(6):e16513. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16513. eCollection 2023 Jun.

Authors

Sizhu Wang¹, Cuisong Tang², Jieying Chen¹, Huan Tang³, Lin Zhang¹, Guangyu Tang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200072, China.
² Department of Radiology, Clinical Medical College of Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Shanghai, 200072, China.
³ Department of Radiology, Huadong Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, 200040, China.

Abstract

Osteoporosis is partially caused by dysfunctions in the commitment, differentiation or survival of osteoblasts. Bone marrow fatty acids affect bone resorption and formation. In this study, we aimed to explore the role of fatty acids in the early stages of postmenopausal osteoporosis and determine whether they influence osteogenic differentiation through microRNAs. A quantitative analysis of bone marrow fatty acids early after ovariectomy or sham surgery in a rat osteoporotic model was performed using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The results showed that palmitoleate was significantly decreased on postoperative day 3 while both pentadecanoate and palmitoleate were significantly decreased on postoperative day 5 in rats in the ovariectomized group compared with those in the sham group. Palmitoleate promotes osteogenic differentiation, whereas pentadecanoate inhibits this process. Palmitoleate levels were higher than those of pentadecanoate; therefore, the early overall effect of significant bone marrow fatty acid changes was a decrease in osteogenic differentiation. We also found that miR-92b-3p inhibited osteoblastogenesis via the miR-92b-3p/phosphatase and tensin homolog regulatory axis. Palmitoleate, pentadecanoate, and palmitate influenced the osteoblastogenesis of MC3T3-E1 cells through miR-92b-3p. Taken together, we propose that miR-92b-3p mediates the effect of bone marrow fatty acids on osteoblast differentiation in the early stages of osteoporosis. These findings may provide molecular insights for the treatment of osteoporosis.

Keywords: Fatty acid; Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry; Lipids; Osteoblast; Osteoporosis; microRNA.