The potential characteristics of hDPCs were investigated by miRNA microarray and real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Bioinformatics (ie, target prediction, Gene Ontology analysis, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes mapping tools) were applied for predicting the complementary target genes of miRNAs and their biological functions.
A total of 22 miRNAs were differentially expressed in which 12 miRNAs up-regulated and 10 miRNAs down-regulated in differentiated hDPCs compared with the control. The target genes of differential miRNAs were predicted to associate with several biological functions and signaling pathways including the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and the Wnt signaling pathway.
The differential expression miRNAs may be involved in governing hDPC odontogenic differentiation, thus contributing to the future investigations of regulatory mechanisms in reparative dentin formation and dental pulp regeneration.