MicroRNA (miRNA), a group of non-coding small RNA (20-25 nt) involved in post-transcriptional regulation, regulate gene expression and closely relate to cancer pathogenesis. This study was to clone miRNA from osteosarcoma cell line SOSP-9607, and identify the expression of some functional genes.Low molecular weight RNA fraction (< or =200 nt) was extracted from SOSP-9607 cells, and polyadenylated by poly(A) polymerase. Then a 5' RNA adapter was ligated to poly(A)-tailed RNA using T4 RNA ligase. RNAs were reversely transcribed and amplified by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The PCR product of 109 bp was recovered and cloned into pCR 4-TOPO vector. After sequencing, database searching, and expression profiling, the expression of miRNA in SOSP-9607 cells was sieved. The expression of novel and some known miRNAs was examined by Northern blot with small RNAs (< or =200 nt) isolated from SOSP-9607 cells, osteosarcoma tissue, and HeLa cells.A total of 182 clones were subsequently characterized through DNA sequencing and database searching; 47 clones (correspond to 25 species) out of the 182 clones from SOSP-9607 cells were identified as miRNAs. Two novel miRNAs (miR-165 and miR-166) were discovered among other 23 known miRNAs, which were predicted in Nature. Northern blot confirmed that the 2 novel miRNAs and 3 solid cancer miRNAs (miR-21, miR-20a,miR-17-5p) were stably expressed in SOSP-9607 cells and osteosarcoma tissue, but miR-166 was not expressed in HeLa cells.We have cloned miRNAs for SOSP-9607 cells and identified parts of the functional ones, which imply that miRNAs may closely relate to the cancer pathogenesis.
MicroRNAs comprise a group of non-coding small RNAs (17-25 nt) involved in post-transcriptional regulation that have been identified in various plants and animals. Studies have demonstrated that miRNAs are associated with stem cell self-renewal and differentiation and play a key role in controlling stem cell activities. However, the identification of specific miRNAs and their regulatory roles in the differentiation of multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have so far been poorly defined. We isolated and cultured human MSCs and osteo-differentiated MSCs from four individual donors. miRNA expression in MSCs and osteo-differentiated MSCs was investigated using miRNA microarrays. miRNAs that were commonly expressed in all three MSC preparations and miRNAs that were differentially expressed between MSCs and osteo-differentiated MSCs were identified. Four underexpressed (hsa-miR-31, hsa-miR-106a, hsa-miR-148a, and hsa-miR-424) and three novel overexpressed miRNAs (hsa-miR-30c, hsa-miR-15b, and hsa-miR-130b) in osteo-differentiated MSCs were selected and their expression were verified in samples from the fourth individual donors. The putative targets of the miRNAs were predicted using bioinformatic analysis. The four miRNAs that were underexpressed in osteo-differentiated MSCs were predicted to target RUNX2, CBFB, and BMPs, which are involved in bone formation; while putative targets for miRNAs overexpressed in osteo-differentiated MSCs were MSC maker (e.g., CD44, ITGB1, and FLT1), stemness-maintaining factor (e.g., FGF2 and CXCL12), and genes related to cell differentiation (e.g., BMPER, CAMTA1, and GDF6). Finally, hsa-miR-31 was selected for target verification and function analysis. The results of this study provide an experimental basis for further research on miRNA functions during osteogenic differentiation of human MSCs.