Fig. 2

M6A regulators were dysregulated in OA synovium. A Volcano plot of differentially expressed genes in OA versus healthy synovium. Red and blue points represent the genes with significantly upregulated or downregulated expressions in OA synovium (FDR < 0.05 and absolute fold-change > 1.5). The two vertical dashed lines denote ± log2(1.5) fold-changes in gene expression, and the horizontal dashed line marks − log10(FDR adjusted p-value cutoff 0.05). B Heatmap of top 20 upregulated and downregulated genes in OA synovium. Red and blue elements of sample group bar indicate OA and healthy synovium samples. Red and blue elements in heatmap represent high or low expression of genes. C Diagram of m6A modification annotated with key m6A writers, erasers and readers. D Heatmap of key m6A regulator expressions in each OA and healthy synovium. Red and green elements in heatmap represent high and low expression of m6A regulators. E Boxplot of key m6A regulator expression in OA and control groups. Red and green boxes indicate m6A regulator levels of OA and healthy synovium samples. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, ns not significant