miR-23b targets Smad 3 and ameliorates the LPS-inhibited osteogenic differentiation in preosteoblast MC3T3-E1 cells

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) has been confirmed to be the main inhibitor in osteogenic differentiation, posing a clinical challenge to bone healing, particularly for trauma followed by endotoxinemia/sepsis. However, the molecular mechanism remains ambiguous. miR-23b, which regulates multiple signaling pathways in inflammation, has been shown to be deregulated by LPS. In this study, we examined the LPS-mediated regulation on the expression of miR-23b and Smad 3 in preosteoblast MC3T3-E1 cells. Then we determined the regulation of miR-23b overexpression on the Smad 3 expression and on the LPS-mediated inhibition of bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2)-induced osteogenic differentiation. Our results demonstrated that LPS significantly downregulated the expression of miR-23b, while upregulating Smad 3 in MC3T3-E1 cells. However, the transfection with miR-23b mimics markedly downregulated the Smad 3 in both mRNA and protein levels, via the specific binding to the 3'-untranslated region (UTR) of Smad 3. Moreover, though LPS markedly downregulated the BMP-2-induced osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells by inhibiting the expression of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), Osteocalcin (OCN), Osteopontin (OPN) and Runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2). The upregulated miR-23b reversed such downregulation of ALP, OCN, OPN and RUNX2 in the MC3T3-E1 cells which were treated both with LPS and BMP-2. In conclusion, our data indicates that miR-23b ameliorates the LPS-mediated inhibition of BMP-2-induced osteogenic differentiation in MC3T3-E1 cells, implying the protective role of miR-23b in the LPS-mediated inhibition of osteogenic differentiation and bone formation.