LncRNA NEAT1/miR-29b-3p/BMP1 axis promotes osteogenic differentiation in human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells

Osteogenic differentiation of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs) is quite important for the bone formation. Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are important to the skeleton formation. As a member of BMPs, BMP1 can induce bone and cartilage development. This study revealed the biological effect of BMP1 on the osteogenic differentiation. Firstly, the relative lower expression of BMP1 was detected in hBMSCs obtained from osteoporosis patients. The expression levels of osteoporosis-related genes (ALP, OCN, and OPN) were found to be decreased in hBMSCs treated with sh-BMP1. Mechanically, BMP1 was demonstrated to be the target mRNA of miR-29b-3p. Moreover, increasing studies indicate that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are crucial regulators in hBMSCs osteogenic differentiation by exerting ceRNA function. Further mechanism investigation revealed that lncRNA NEAT1 could regulate miR-29b-3p-BMP1 axis in hBMSCs. Finally, rescue assays were performed to validate the specific function of NEAT1-miR-29b-3p-BMP1 axis in the osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs. In conclusion, NEAT1 promotes osteogenic differentiation in hBMSCs by regulating miR-29b-3p/BMP1 axis.