Expression of m⁶A Methylation Regulator in Osteoarthritis and Its Prognostic Markers

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a multifactorial disorder, in which genetic factors are strongly associated with its development. However, the pathogenesis of OA is still unclear, and recently it has been observed that epigenetic modifications are also involved in the pathogenesis of OA. This study aims to study the potential role of m⁶A-related genes in the occurrence and development of OA.

We downloaded the OA expression profile data (GSE55235) from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. First, function enrichment analysis of 17 representative m⁶A methylation regulatory factors was performed using the DAVID database and Metascape online tool. Then, we analyzed the expression of 17 m⁶A methylation regulatory factors in OA and the correlation between regulatory factors using Perl software. Finally, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and the area under the ROC curve were used to evaluate the diagnostic effectiveness of m⁶A-related genes for discriminating patients with OA and healthy.

We first identified that 12 of the 17 genes were differentially expressed in OA. ALKBH1, EIF3, IGF2BP3, WTAP, and YTHDC1 were associated with early diagnosis and prognosis of OA.

m⁶A RNA methylation regulator factors are key players in the progression of OA and have potential role in the stratification of prognosis and the formulation of treatment strategies.