ObjectiveTo investigate whether miR-93-5p suppresses osteogenic differentiation of mouse mesenchymal stem cells (C3H10T1/2) by targeting Smad5, a predicted target in silicon. MethodsSmad5 3'-UTRluciferase vector (pmiR-RB-REPORTTM) was constructed and dual-luciferase reporter gene assay was employed to examine the effect of miR-93-5p on Smad5 3'-UTR-luciferase activity to identify whether Smad5 was the target gene of miR-93-5p. miR-93-5p mimics (group M), miR-93-5p inhibitor (group In), miR-93-5p mimics negative control (group MC), and miR-93-5p inhibitor negative control (group InC) were transfected into the C3H10T1/2 cells, respectively, and followed by induction of osteogenic differentiation. After 48 hours, the real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR (qRTPCR) and Western blot assays were performed to detect the relative expressions of Smad5 mRNA and protein. At 14 days, to realize the regulation role of miR-93-5p in osteogenic differentiation, the extracellular calcium deposition during the osteogenesis of C3H10T1/2 cells was tested by Alizarin red staining. ResultsDual-luciferase reporter gene assay showed that miR-93-5p could combine with Smad5 mRNA 3'-UTR specificity, and inhibited its luciferase activity (P<0.05). After 48 hours, no significant difference was shown in the relative expression of Smad5 mRNA between group M and group MC as well as between group In and group InC by qRT-PCR assay (P>0.05); however, the results of Western blot assay showed that the relative expression of Smad5 protein was significantly decreased in group M and increased in group In when compared with groups MC and InC (P<0.05). At 14 days after osteogenic induction, Alizarin red staining showed that the extracellular calcium deposition of group M was obviously less than that of group MC, and it was obviously more in group In than in group InC. ConclusionSmad5 may be the target gene of miR-93-5p. And miR-93-5p can suppress osteogenic differentiation of C3H10T1/2 cells by directly targeting Smad5.