Table 1.
MicroRNAs that enhance osteoblast differentiation in vitro.
| Osteo-enhancing miRNA |
Endogenous expression during OG |
miRNA target |
Progenitor cell type | Animal model | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| miR-10b |  |
SMAD2 | Human ASC | Heterotopic ossification | Li et al. [73] |
| miR-19a-3p |  |
HDAC4 | Human BMSC | NA | Chen et al. [74] |
| miR-26b |  |
GSK3β | Rat BMSC | NA | Hu et al. [75]* |
| miR-29a |  |
HDAC4 | Human BMSC | NA | Tan et al. [76] |
| miR-29a | NA | DKK1 | Mouse primary Cal Pre-OB | Ovariectomy-induced osteoporosis | Lee et al. [77] |
| miR-92a | NA | SMAD6 | Mouse BMSC | NA | Yan et al. [78] |
| miR-98 |  |
HMGA2 | Human BMSC | NA | Gao et al. [79] |
| miR-130a |  |
SMURF2 | Mouse BMSC | Age-related osteoporosis | Lin et al. [80] |
| miR-135-5p |  |
HIF1AN | MC3T3-E1 | NA | Yin et al. [81] |
| miR-181a/b-1 |  |
PTEN | Human DDC | NA | Zheng et al. [82]* |
| miR-219a-5p |  |
RORβ | Mouse Cal OB | NA | Aquino-Martinez et al. [83] |
| miR-342-3p |  |
ATF3 | Human BMSC, MC3T3-E1 | NA | Han et al. [84] |
| miR-365 | NA | HDAC4 | MC3T3-E1 | NA | Xu et al. [85] |
| miR-374b | NA | PTEN | Mouse BMSC | Tibial plateau fracture | Ge et al. [86] |
| miR-433-3p | NA | DKK1 | Human FOB 1.19, Rat ROS17/2.8 | Ovariectomy-induced osteoporosis | Tang et al. [87]* |
| miR-450b |  |
BMP3 | Human ASC | Heterotopic ossification | Fan et al. [88]* |
Legend: this list was generated from a PubMed literature search (2017–2020) to determine miRNAs that play a functional role in regulating osteoblast differentiation. This list contains miRNAs reported to enhance osteogenesis following over-expression in vitro. The second column shows endogenous expression patterns of the miRNA during in vitro osteogenesis assays: pink arrows represent reduced expression, green arrows denote increased expression and yellow arrows translate to unchanged expression at specific time points of osteogenic differentiation. MiRNA target genes and progenitor cell types used to study in vitro osteogenesis are also shown. Wherever applicable, the in vivo rodent model used to further test the effects of miRNA modulation on bone formation is also shown. Those studies marked with an asterisk (*) used lentiviral technology to modulate miRNA expression. All other studies utilized miRNA mimics or antagomirs. Abbreviations: ASC = adipose-derived mesenchymal stem/stromal cells; BMSC = bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem/stromal cells; Cal OB = calvarial-derived osteoblasts; Cal pre-OB = calvarial-derived pre-osteoblasts; DDC = dedifferentiated chondrocytes (or cartilage progenitor cells); FOB = fetal osteoblasts; NA = not analyzed; OG = osteogenesis; ROS = rat osteosarcoma cells.