The bioinformatics analysis of chromatin regulators and immune-related genes in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis based...

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is a complex spinal deformity with an unclear etiology. Recent studies suggest that chromatin regulators (CRs) and the immune microenvironment may be involved in AIS pathogenesis. This study identifies differentially expressed CRs between AIS patients and healthy controls and explores their functional enrichment, immune associations, and potential therapeutic targets. Transcriptome data from the GSE110359 dataset (12 AIS and 5 control BM-MSC samples) were analyzed using bioinformatics approaches, including differential expression analysis, functional enrichment, protein-protein interaction network construction, immune infiltration analysis, and predictive modeling. A total of 67 differentially expressed CRs were identified, enriched in DNA repair, epigenetic regulation, and histone modification pathways. Ten hub genes were strongly associated with immune cell infiltration. A predictive model incorporating KAT2B, PBRM1, NCOA2, ARID1B, BANF1, NCOA1, and KDM5A achieved an area under the curve of 0.833. Potential therapeutic agents and related microRNA (miRNAs) were also predicted. This integrative bioinformatics analysis highlights CR-immune interactions that may contribute to AIS pathogenesis and identifies candidate biomarkers and therapeutic targets. These findings provide novel insights for early diagnosis and personalized treatment, but further experimental validation is needed to clarify their mechanistic roles.