MiR-18 inhibitor promotes the differentiation of bovine skeletal muscle-derived satellite cells by increasing MEF2D expression

Skeletal muscle is composed of muscle fibers formed from myoblast differentiation. Recently, numerous researchers have demonstrated that microRNAs (miRNAs) play an essential role in modulating the proliferation and differentiation of myoblasts. Our previous study has shown that among the miR-17-92 cluster members, miR-17 and miR-20a together with miR-19b can efficiently promote the differentiation of murine C2C12 and bovine primary myoblasts. However, the role of miR-18 in this process remains elusive. In this study, we revealed that miR-18 inhibited the differentiation of bovine skeletal muscle-derived satellite cells (bMDSCs), whereas an miR-18 inhibitor significantly promoted cell differentiation (p < 0.001). Then, a target gene of miR-18 was found to be myocyte enhancer factor 2D (MEF2D), which is critical for myoblast differentiation. Furthermore, we found that the combination of the miR-18 inhibitor and miR-19 significantly improved the formation of bMDSCs-derived muscle fibers (p < 0.001). This study revealed the role of miR-18 in bovine skeletal muscle differentiation and contributed to the understanding of the regulatory mechanism of mammalian myogenic differentiation.