LncRNA TERC alleviates the progression of osteoporosis by absorbing miRNA-217 to upregulate RUNX2
Authors: D-W Yang
W Liu
G-C Gao
Journal: European review for medical and pharmacological sciences (2020)
Discipline: PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICOLOGY
Keywords: TERC; miRNA-217; osteoporosis; RUNX2; hMSCs
Affiliations: Department of Orthopaedics, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China. .

Abstract:  Objective: To elucidate the role of telomerase RNA elements (TERC) in alleviating osteoporosis (OP) by absorbing microRNA-217 (miRNAs-217) to regulate runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2) level. Materials and methods: The serum levels of TERC and miRNA-217 in OP patients and healthy controls were determined. During the osteogenic process, the relative levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), RUNX2, and Osterix were determined in hMSCs. The regulatory effects of TERC, miRNA-217, and RUNX2 on ALP and RUNX2 levels in hMSCs were examined by quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blot. In addition, the changes in ALP activity and calcification ability in hMSCs influenced by them were assessed through ALP activity determination and alizarin red staining, respectively. The interaction of TERC/miRNA-217/RUNX2 regulatory loop and its role in influencing hMSCs osteogenesis were assessed by Dual-Luciferase Reporter Gene Assay and a series of rescue experiments, respectively. Results: The downregulated TERC and upregulated miRNA-217 were identified in the serum of the OP patients. Consistently, the downregulated TERC and upregulated miRNA-217 were discovered in in vitro osteogenic process of hMSCs. The silence of TERC, or RUNX2 downregulated ALP and RUNX2 levels, decreased ALP activity and attenuated the calcification ability in hMSCs. The overexpression of miRNA-217 gave similar results. The binding relationship in TERC/miRNA-217/RUNX2 regulatory loop was verified. At last, rescue experiments suggested that TERC accelerated hMSCs osteogenesis by absorbing miRNA-217 to upregulate RUNX2. Conclusions: The serum level of TERC is lowly expressed in OP patients. TERC influences hMSCs osteogenesis by absorbing miRNA-217 to upregulate RUNX2, thus alleviating the progression of OP. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 Figure 1A. * Red boxes: The d0 and d1 control panels appear to show an overlap.  , 
 #1 Dear Dr. Bik, Thank you so much for your analysis of my articles! Currently, we are carefully checking each of your comments and concerns regarding  image concerns and undisclosed conflict of interest in some of my papers. We have also started to contact the related journals to ask for corrective notes on those articles that need correction or other potential actions. We will update, on Pubpeer, the final changes and actions communicated with the journals once we get feedback from the journals. Thank you again for your time and concern! Sincerely yours, Hossein Baharvand , 
 #1 Thank you for your concern. We have explained to the editor and asked to publish an Erratum to our manuscript to avoid any potential ambiguities in the future and they accepted. , 
 Correction, January 2021: https: www.liebertpub.com doi 10.1089 scd.2011.0678.correx  The authors of the article entitled Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3 Inhibition Promotes Proliferation and Neuronal Differentiation of Human-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Neural Progenitors published in Stem Cells Dev 2011;21(17):3233u20133242 wish to correct an error. An error related to data handling labelling during the preparation of the neural progenitors images in Figure 1A (day 0) resulted in an incorrect figure panel placement such that the day 0 and day 1 of control data were derived from the same sample. ,