Abstract
The present study aimed to investigate the association between septin 7 (SEPT7) and melatonin-induced apoptosis in the human fetal osteoblastic cell line hFOB 1.19. MicroRNA (miR)‑590‑3p was identified by identifying overlapping miRNAs that target SEPT7, across different databases (miRDB, DIANA and Targetscan). Apoptosis was assessed via flow cytometric analysis. Small interfering RNA of SEPT7 and a miR‑590‑3p inhibitor were used for gene silencing and the efficiency was assessed by reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Western blotting was used to measure the expression of proteins associated with pathways mediating endoplasmic reticulum stress and melatonin‑induced apoptosis. The present study identified that SEPT7 was a potential target of miR‑590‑3p and demonstrated that SEPT7 is associated with mediating the pro‑apoptotic effect of miR‑590‑3p in human osteoblast cell line hFOB 1.19. High concentrations of melatonin may result in the inhibition of miR‑590‑3p expression, leading to the upregulation of target genes that promote apoptosis.