The process of osteogenic differentiation plays a crucial role in the development and mending of bones. Additionally, miRNAs play a crucial role in controlling osteogenic differentiation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of miR-20b-5p on the osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs under inflammatory conditions. Our research involved administering 1 μg/mL LPS to human BMSCs over a 24-hour period to develop a cell model, with the detection of associated genes and proteins through RT‒qPCR and Western blotting techniques. Detection was made of the bone-forming differentiation process in BMSCs. The research showed a decrease in miR-20b-5p and osteogenic differentiation-related proteins (RUNX2, OCN, OPN) in LPS-induced BMSCs, along with a reduction in inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β) and native cell expression. The levels of stress-related proteins such as p-EIF2S1, ATF4, CHOP, and GRP78 increased in the plasma reticulum. Elevated levels of miR-20b-5p diminished the impact of LPS and encouraged the bone-forming differentiation in BMSCs. Mechanistically, overexpression of miR-20b-5p alleviated ER stress caused by inflammation by decreasing EIF2S1 levels, thereby promoting the osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs. The findings of our research suggest that enhancing miR-20b-5p expression could be an innovative approach to foster the osteogenic transformation of BMSCs.
Pan et al. (Fri,) studied this question.