miR-20a: a key regulator of orthodontic tooth movement via BMP2 signaling pathway modulation

ABSTRACT

Aim

In this study, we aimed to establish a rat tooth movement model to assess miR-20’s ability in enhancing the BMP2 signaling pathway and facilitate alveolar bone remodeling.

Method

60 male SD rats had nickel titanium spring devices placed between their left upper first molars and incisors, with the right side serving as the control. Forces were applied at varying durations (18h, 24h, 30h, 36h, 42h, 1d, 3d, 5d, 7d, 14d), and their bilateral maxillary molars and surrounding alveolar bones were retrieved for analysis. Fluorescent quantitative PCR was conducted to assess miR-20a, BMP2, Runx2, Bambi and Smad6 gene expression in alveolar bone, and western blot was performed to determine the protein levels of BMP2, Runx2, Bambi, and Smad6 after mechanical loading.

Result

We successfully established an orthodontic tooth movement model in SD rats and revealed upregulated miR-20a expression and significantly increased BMP2 and Runx2 gene expression and protein synthesis in alveolar bone during molar tooth movement. Although Bambi and Smad6 gene expression did not significantly increase, their protein synthesis was found to decrease significantly.

Conclusion

MiR-20a was found to be involved in rat tooth movement model alveolar bone remodeling, wherein it promoted remodeling by reducing Bambi and Smad6 protein synthesis through the BMP2 signaling pathway.

KEYWORDS:

• miR-20a
• orthodontic tooth movement
• Smad6
• Bambi
• osteogenic differentiation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

Zhi-hui Mai, Jin-hua Huang conceived the idea and designed the study methodology. Zhu-li Peng, Yan-jun Pan collected and analyzed the data; Zhi-wen Sun, Hong Ai wrote the manuscript. All authors read and have approved the manuscript for submission.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

All mouse experiments were performed in accordance with the guidelines of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Sun Yat-Sen University (IACUC-DB-15-1005).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (2016a030313212).