Novel Mouse MicroRNA Chr13_novelMiR7354-5p Improves Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cell Differentiation into Insulin-Producing Cells

Abstract MicroRNAs (miRNAs) that play key roles in generation of insulin-producing cells from stem cells provide a cell-based approach for insulin replacement therapy. Here, we used next-generation sequencing to detect the miRNA expression profile of normal mouse pancreatic β-cells, non-β-cells, bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) and adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) and determined relative miRNA expression levels in mouse pancreatic β-cells. After the novel mouse miRNA candidates were identified using miRDeep 2.0, we found that Chr13_novelMiR7354-5p, a novel miRNA candidate, significantly promoted the differentiation of BM-MSCs into insulin-producing cells in vitro. Furthermore, Chr13_novelMiR7354-5p-transfected BM-MSCs reversed hyperglycaemia in STZ-treated diabetic mice. In addition, bioinformatics analyses, a luciferase reporter assay and Western blotting demonstrated that Chr13_novelMiR7354-5p targeted Notch1 and Rbpj. Our results provide compelling evidence of the existence of 65 novel mouse miRNA candidates and present a new treatment strategy to generate insulin-producing cells from stem cells.