Single-cell transcriptome sequencing analysis of meniscus in patients with osteoarthritis

QIN Zhou; LU Dinggui; LING Yongchang

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1002-7386.2025.09.002

Abstract：Objective To analyze single-cell transcriptome sequencing data of meniscus tissue in osteoarthritis,thus providing theoretical basis for the treatment of osteoarthritis.Methods Using principal component analysis,t-Distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding(T-SNE),Gene Ontology(GO),Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG)enrichment analyses,and cell interaction analysis,we investigated the differentiation of meniscus chondrocytes in a case of osteoarthritis using single-cell transcriptome sequencing results.Results The meniscus tissue differentiated into 8 cell subpopulations,with endothelial cells accounting for the largest proportion.GO and KEGG enrichment analysis revealed the major biological processes of extracellular structural tissue,external encapsulated structural tissue,and extracellular matrix;cellular components of extracellular matrix,cell matrix junction,and cell adhesion;and molecular functions of glycosaminoglycan binding,extracellular matrix structural components,and collagen binding.In addition,adhesive spot,diabetes,coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19),T helper type 17(Th17)cell differentiation,tumour necrosis factor(TNF),ribosome,extracellular matrix(ECM)receptor interaction and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases/protein kinase B(PI3K/AKT)were the enriched signaling pathways.A total of 19 differentially expressed genes were identified as marker genes.Conclusion Using single-cell transcriptome sequencing,it was found that the meniscus tissue cells of osteoarthritis can be divided into 8 cell subpopulations,and marker genes can recognize different cell subpopulations and participate in different biological processes,providing new insights for the treatment of osteoarthritis.