m6A-related ferroptosis gene expression and its association with immune infiltration in Alzheimer’s disease: machine learning and molecular biology validation

• Identified two key m6A regulators (WTAP and METTL14) significantly associated with ferroptosis in Alzheimer’s disease, suggesting their role as critical cross-nodes in disease mechanisms. • Five 'non-classical' ferroptosis genes (FH, GOT1, HRAS, MT3, SETD1B) were integrated into an AD diagnostic model, with GOT1, HRAS, and SETD1B showing significant differential expression in APP/PS1 mice, validated by qRT-PCR and Western blot. • Single-sample gene set enrichment analysis quantified 29 immune signatures, revealing that plasmacytoid dendritic cells and chemokine receptor infiltration levels were significantly positively correlated with HRAS, linking ferroptosis to immune infiltration in AD. • A logistic regression model achieved AUC values of 0.873 (training) and 0.904 (validation), demonstrating excellent diagnostic performance of the characteristic genes for AD.