The present study aimed to investigate miR-590-3p's role in osteogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC). HMSC were cultured and transfected with empty vector, miR-590-3p vector to construct control hMSC and miR-590-3p overexpression hMSC. MiR-590-3p suppressed hMSC was created with oligonucleotide transient transfection. All 3 groups of cells were analyzed for their osteogenic level as well as Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway activities. The results of alizarin red staining indicated that overexpression of miR-590-3p significantly enhanced mineralized deposition. Osteogenic markers including ALP, OC and SOST were also up-regulated. The result of dual-luciferase and western blot analysis indicated that miR-590-3p bound to 3'UTR of APC mRNA selectively. By suppressing mRNA level of APC, over-expressed miR-590-3p stabilized beta-catenin and increased the transcription activities of downstream target genes. These result suggested that miR-590-3p can promote osteogenic differentiation via suppressing APC expression and stabilizing beta-catenin. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.