Hydrostatic pressure induces osteogenic differentiation of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells through increasing lncRNA-PAGBC

Induced osteogenesis of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AMSCs) has been used to facilitate bone regeneration. Specifically, hydrostatic pressure (HP) has been implicated as a key regulator of AMSC differentiation, whereas the mechanisms that underlie the effects of HP on osteogenesis of AMSCs are not fully understood. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging regulators for osteogenic differentiation from AMSCs. In the current study, we found that lncRNA-PAGBC was a specific lncRNA that significantly upregulated during osteogenic differentiation of AMSCs based on published database. HP increased lncRNA-PAGBC, which is a competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) that binds to the osteogenesis-inhibitory microRNA, miR-133b, to regulate osteogenic differentiation of AMSCs. Moreover, a key osteogenesis-trigger gene, runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2), was identified as a target gene for miR-133b. Suppression of RUNX2 by miR-133b caused impaired osteogenic differentiation of AMSCs. Furthermore, lncRNA-PAGBC overexpression upregulated, whereas lncRNA-PAGBC silencing decreased the expression of RUNX2 through miR-133b. Together, these data suggest that HP induces osteogenic differentiation of AMSCs through increasing lncRNA-PAGBC.