Long non-coding RNA GAS5 promotes osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells by regulating the...

Studies have shown that promoting the differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) into osteoblasts could protect against osteoporosis. Increasing evidence demonstrates that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) participate in BMSC osteogenic differentiation. This study aimed to investigate the role and underlying mechanism of growth arrest-specific transcript 5 (GAS5) in osteogenic differentiation. The mechanism was mainly focused on miR-135a-5p/FOXO1 pathway by gain- and loss-of function tests. GAS5 and FOXO1 expression was decreased, whereas miR-135a-5p expression was increased, in the BMSCs from osteoporotic mice. Levels of GAS5 and FOXO1 were increased and miR-135a-5p expression was decreased during osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs. Overexpression of GAS5 promoted, whereas knockdown of GAS5 suppressed, BMSC osteogenic differentiation. As for the mechanism, GAS5 functioned as a competing endogenous RNA for miR-135a-5p to regulate FOXO1 expression. In conclusion, GAS5 promoted osteogenesis of BMSCs by regulating the miR-135a-5p/FOXO1 axis. This finding suggests that targeting GAS5 may be a useful therapy for treating postmenopausal osteoporosis.