VEGFA, MYC, and JUN are abnormally elevated in the synovial tissue of patients with advanced osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA), a disease that affects more than 500 million people worldwide, profoundly affects quality of life and the ability to work. The MAPK signaling pathway plays an essential role in various types of inflammatory diseases, including OA. To address the lack of studies focused on synovial cells in OA, we evaluated the expression patterns and roles of the MAPK signaling pathway components in OA synovial tissues using bioinformatics. The expression levels of JUN , MYC , and VEGFA were significantly higher in the synovial tissues of patients with OA than in control tissues. These loci were closely related to abnormal proliferation, inflammation, and angiogenesis in the synovial tissues of patients with OA. We speculate that Myc and VEGFA activate the p38-MAPK signaling pathway to further activate Jun, thereby promoting abnormal inflammation, proliferation, and angiogenesis in OA synovial tissue. Our study found that MYC and VEGFA expression have a combined effect on MAPK activation, and that the upregulation and activation of JUN is associated with the upregulation of MYC and/or VEGFA . Our findings may provide a new combination therapy for the clinical treatment of OA and offer new insight into the pathogenesis of OA.