LINC00899 promotes osteogenic differentiation and alleviates osteoporosis via targeting miR-374a to regulate RUNX2
Abstract Objective: This study aims to illustrate the underlying molecular mechanisms of long noncoding RNAs (LncRNAs) LINC00899 in osteoporosis.Methods: Real Time-quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR) was used to examine the levels of LINC00899, miR-374a and RUNX2 in clinical tissues or human bone mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs). The interaction between miR-374a and LINC00899 or RUNX2 was predicted by starBase and verified by luciferase reporter assay and RNA binding protein immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and Alizarin Red S (ARS) staining were also used to evaluate the osteogenic ability of hBMSCs.Results: The expression levels of LINC00899 were gradually increased, but miR-374a expression was decreased with the prolongation of osteogenic induction. In addition, the expression of LINC00899 was lowly expressed in osteoporotic patients’ bone tissues and knockdown of LINC00899 decreased the expression of osteogenesis-related genes. Moreover, LINC00899 was confirmed to inhibit miR-374a expression by direct interaction. Finally, we demonstrated that RUNX2 was a target of miR-374a, and the silencing of miR-374a partially abolished the inhibitory effect of LINC00899 knockdown on the expression of RUNX2, OPN and OCN.Conclusions: We demonstrated that LINC00899 facilitated the osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs and prevented osteoporosis by sponging miR-374a and enhancing RUNX2 expression, which might provide a useful therapeutic strategy for osteoporosis patients.