KLF2 regulates dental pulp-derived stem cell differentiation through the induction of mitophagy and altering mitochondrial metabolism

To define the regulatory role of Kruppel-like factor 2 (KLF2) during osteoblast (OB) differentiation of dental pulp-derived stem cell (DPSC)s, herein, we show that the levels of KLF2 and autophagy-related molecules were significantly increased in differentiated cells. Gain-of-function and loss-of-function approaches of KLF2 confirmed that KLF2 modulated autophagic and OB differentiation-related molecules. In addition, knockdown of the autophagic molecule (ATG7 or BECN1) in DPSCs resulted in reduced levels of KLF2 and OB differentiation-related molecules. Conversely, the induction of autophagy increased levels of KLF2 and OB differentiation-related molecules. Moreover, OB differentiation induced mitophagy and mitochondrial membrane potential-related molecules. In addition, OB differentiation reduced the generation of total and mitochondrial ROS productions and induced intracellular Ca2+ production. Measurements of glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation simultaneously in live cells revealed that OB differentiation decreased the oxygen consumption rate, which is an indicator of mitochondrial respiration and reduced the level of ATP production. Furthermore, flux analysis also revealed that OB differentiation increased the extracellular acidification rate (ECAR) in the non-glycolytic acidification, and the glycolytic capacity conditions, increasing the lactate production and reducing the metabolic activity of the cells. Thus, a metabolic shift from mitochondrial respiration to the glycolytic pathway was observed during OB differentiation. Finally, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analysis confirmed that the KLF2 and active epigenetic marks (H3K27Ac and H3K4me3) were upregulated in the promoter region of ATG7 during OB differentiation. These results provide evidence that the mitophagy process is important during OB differentiation, and KLF2 critically regulates it.