Unilateral mastication induced alternations of microRNAs expression profiling in synovium of rat temporomandibular joint

The present study investigated the alterations of miRNA expression profiling in synovium of temporomandibular joint(TMJ) in a rat model of experimental unilateral mastication. The synovium tissue of TMJ condyles from rats with 4- and 8-weeks unilateral mastication were harvested to extract miRNA for profiling holistic expression alternations. A total of 20 differentially expressed miRNAs were identified. Except for 3 miRNAs with uncertain function, those miRNAs are associated with cell proliferation, invasion, and osteoblast differentiation process.