Differential expression of basal micro RNA s’ patterns in human dental pulp stem cells

Micro RNA s (mi RNA s) are small non‐coding RNA s that regulate translation of m RNA into protein and play a crucial role for almost all biological activities. However, the identification of mi RNA s from mesenchymal stem cells ( MSC s), especially from dental pulp, is poorly understood. In this study, dental pulp stem cells ( DPSC s) were characterized in terms of their proliferation and differentiation capacity. Furthermore, 104 known mature mi RNA s were profiled by using real‐time PCR . Notably, we observed 19 up‐regulated mi RNA s and 29 significantly down‐regulated mi RNA s in DPSC s in comparison with bone marrow MSC s ( BM ‐ MSC s). The 19 up‐regulated mi RNA s were subjected to ingenuity analysis, which were composed into 25 functional networks. We have chosen top 2 functional networks, which comprised 10 mi RNA (hsa‐miR‐516a‐3p, hsa‐miR‐125b‐1‐3p, hsa‐miR‐221‐5p, hsa‐miR‐7, hsa‐miR‐584‐5p, hsa‐miR‐190a, hsa‐miR‐106a‐5p, hsa‐mir‐376a‐5p, hsa‐mir‐377‐5p and hsa‐let‐7f‐2‐3p). Prediction of target m RNA s and associated biological pathways regulated by each of this mi RNA was carried out. We paid special attention to hsa‐miR‐516a‐3p and hsa‐miR‐7‐5p as these mi RNA s were highly expressed upon validation with q RT ‐ PCR analysis. We further proceeded with loss‐of‐function analysis with these mi RNA s and we observed that hsa‐miR‐516a‐3p knockdown induced a significant increase in the expression of WNT 5A. Likewise, the knockdown of hsa‐miR‐7‐5p increased the expression of EGFR . Nevertheless, further validation revealed the role of WNT 5A as an indirect target of hsa‐miR‐516a‐3p. These results provide new insights into the dynamic role of mi RNA expression in DPSC s. In conclusion, using mi RNA signatures in human as a prediction tool will enable us to elucidate the biological processes occurring in DPSC s.