METTL3-Mediated lncSNHG7 m<sup>6</sup>A Modification in the Osteogenic/Odontogenic Differentiation of Human Dental Stem Cells

<b>Background</b>: Human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) play an important role in endodontic regeneration. N6-methyladenosine (m<sup>6</sup>A) is the most common RNA modification, and noncoding RNAs have also been demonstrated to have regulatory roles in the expression of m&...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yeqing Yang, Junkai Zeng, Chong Jiang, Jiawen Chen, Ci Song, Ming Chen, Buling Wu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-12-01
Series:Journal of Clinical Medicine
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/12/1/113
Description
Summary:<b>Background</b>: Human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) play an important role in endodontic regeneration. N6-methyladenosine (m<sup>6</sup>A) is the most common RNA modification, and noncoding RNAs have also been demonstrated to have regulatory roles in the expression of m<sup>6</sup>A regulatory proteins. However, the study on m<sup>6</sup>A modification in hDPSCs has not yet been conducted. <b>Methods</b>: Single base site PCR (MazF) was used to detect the m<sup>6</sup>A modification site of lncSNHG7 before and after mineralization of hDPSCs to screen the target m<sup>6</sup>A modification protein, and bioinformatics analysis was used to analyze the related pathways rich in lncSNHG7. After knockdown and overexpression of lncSNHG7 and METTL3, the osteogenic/odontogenic ability was detected. After METTL3 knockdown, the m<sup>6</sup>A modification level and its expression of lncSNHG7 were detected by MazF, and their binding was confirmed. Finally, the effects of lncSNHG7 and METTL3 on the Wnt/β-catenin pathway were detected. <b>Results</b>: MazF experiments revealed that lncSNHG7 had a m<sup>6</sup>A modification before and after mineralization of hDPSCs, and the occurrence site was 2081. METTL3 was most significantly upregulated after mineralization of hDPSCs. Knockdown/ overexpression of lncSNHG7 and METTL3 inhibited/promoted the osteogenic/odontogenic differentiation of hDPSCs. The m<sup>6</sup>A modification and expression of lncSNHG7 were both regulated by METTL3. Subsequently, lncSNHG7 and METTL3 were found to regulate the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. <b>Conclusion</b>: These results revealed that METTL3 can activate the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway by regulating the m<sup>6</sup>A modification and expression of lncSNHG7 in hDPSCs to enhance the osteogenic/odontogenic differentiation of hDPSCs. Our study provides new insight into stem cell-based tissue engineering.
ISSN:2077-0383