Effect of OCT4A-related LncRNA FTX on Dental Pulp Cells

Objectives: To investigate the effects of OCT4A on the biological characteristics of human dental pulp cells (hDPCs) under injury conditions and explore the regulatory function of OCT4A-related LncRNA FTX on the pluripotency of hDPCs and its molecular interaction mechanisms with OCT4A.
Methods: We detected the effects of OCT4A on the proliferation and differentiation of hDPCs under the stimulation of LPS(1μg/mL) by establishing OCT4A overexpression and knockdown cell models. We used human LncRNA microarrays to screen out the differentially expressed LncRNA in OCT4A overexpression and control cell groups, and explored the function of LncRNA FTX in the proliferation and differentiation of hDPCs under injury conditions. We also detected the interactions between FTX and OCT4A in hDPCs to study their potential regulation mechanisms on the pluripotency of hDPCs.
Results: OCT4A improved the cell proliferation and differentiation capacities of hDPCs with LPS stimulation. Several LncRNAs including FTX participated in the OCT4A-related molecular regulation network. Overexpression of FTX inhibited cell proliferation and differentiation of hDPCs with LPS stimulation. OCT4A negatively regulated FTX expression in hDPCs. FTX knockdown up-regulated the expression of pluripotent transcription factors OCT4A, SOX2 and c-MYC, whereas FTX overexpression down-regulated their expression.
Conclusions: OCT4A was a crucial factor to maintain the self-renewal and multipotential differentiation capacities of hDPCs under injury conditions. FTX and OCT4A may form a feedback regulation loop to modulate the pluripotency of hDPCs.