In addition, Hao et al. [20] found that miR-708 expression is inversely correlated with osteonecrosis and that targeting miR-708 could not only promote osteogenic differentiation in vitro but also effectively antagonized the suppression effect of steroids on osteoblast and adipocyte differentiation through increasing SMAD3 expression, which may result in an interaction between SMAD3 and RUNX2, and consequent activation of the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) signaling pathway. This evidence concerns the gene SMAD3 and osteonecrosis.