The role of m5C RNA methylation regulators in the diagnosis and immune microenvironment of osteoarthritis

The 5-methylcytosine (m5C) is a common post-transcriptional RNA methylation modification and is involved in the pathological process of many diseases. However, little is known about the role of m5C in osteoarthritis (OA). OA gene data and the corresponding information were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Based on 36 m5C regulators, we constructed the landscape and diagnostic model for OA. Later, two m5C modification patterns were identified, and functional analyses were performed to evaluate whether these patterns were related to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and mitochondrial autophagy. We further comprehensively analyzed the immune cell infiltration characteristics in different modification patterns in OA. We also established the post-transcriptional regulatory networks and drug-gene networks. Our findings suggested that m5C regulators were differentially expressed between OA and normal samples and could serve as novel biomarkers for the diagnosis of OA. Besides, m5C regulators may be involved in regulating ER stress, mitochondrial autophagy, and immune infiltration in OA. The m5C modification can influence the sensitivity to drugs and the potential post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms might provide promising targets.