Work

Integrative Transcriptomic and Network Analysis of Shared Osteo-Immune Regulatory Programs in Postmenopausal Osteoporosis and Osteosarcoma Within Central Mexican Cohorts

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Osteoporosis (OP) and osteosarcoma (OS) are biologically distinct skeletal disorders that share dysregulated bone remodeling, inflammatory signaling, and microenvironmental interactions. This study performed an integrative transcriptomic analysis to identify shared osteoimmune regulatory programs in circulating monocytes from postmenopausal women with OP and OS tumors from Central Mexican cohorts. Two independent RNA-seq cohorts were analyzed separately and then integrated: circulating monocytes from postmenopausal women with OP and controls (7 OP and 7 controls), and donor-matched OS tissues (7 tumors and 7 healthy bone samples). Differential expression, module-based filtering, pathway enrichment, cross-cohort functional integration, directional concordance, and targeted interaction network analyses were performed. The OP cohort showed 169 differentially expressed genes, whereas the OS cohort showed 2135 genes. Module-based filtering retained 82 genes in OP and 278 in OS, with only six genes directly shared. However, pathway-level integration identified convergent signals involving PI3K-Akt, HIF-1 signaling, lipid and atherosclerosis, phagosome, endoplasmic reticulum protein processing, focal adhesion, proteoglycans in cancer, and cancer-related pathways. Directional analysis of 27 shared pathway-associated genes revealed predominantly discordant regulation, with CTNNB1 emerging as a central network node. These findings suggest that OP and OS converge through specific osteoimmune pathways rather than through a uniform shared gene program.

Source: Current Issues in Molecular Biology

DOI: 10.3390/cimb48070747

Authors: Rogelio Frank Jiménez-Ortega, Aldo Hugo de la Cruz-Montoya, Nelly Patiño, Rafael Velázquez-Cruz, Alberto Hidalgo-Bravo

Institutions: Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación, National Institute of Genomic Medicine

Language: English

Topic: Bone Metabolism and Diseases

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,654