Fig. 7

Differential expression of the genes in TGF-β superfamily signaling module in osteoporotic MSCs and their potential network analysis. A The enrichment plot computed by GSEA indicated the TGF-β signaling gene set was significantly enriched in bone marrow-derived MSCs from elderly patients suffering from primary osteoporosis. B The relative expressions of each gene in TGF-β superfamily signaling module between MSCs from patients suffering from primary osteoporosis (OP) and their age-matched healthy controls (HC) were compared in a heat‐map manner. The profiles were divided into three groups, membrane receptors and SMADs (left), ligands (middle) and antagonists (right). Expression patterns were clustered by Manhattan distance calculation. C Causal network analysis identified 27 regulators potentially promoting the expression of the 12 selected BMP antagonists. The network was constructed by setting depth up to 3 (2 intervening regulators). Yellow pattern: activation (Z-score > 2); blue pattern: inhibition (Z-score < −2). Patterns with gradient color from light to dull red reflected the enhanced transcription folds of BMP antagonists showed in the microarray data. D IPA analysis of the possible canonical signaling pathways connected with the identified regulators