Since our goal was to determine whether the MyD88 dimerization inhibition mediated by ST2825 modulates pathogenic processes in RA SFs, we confirmed the inflammatory status of the RA SFs samples used in this study by comparing them with OA SFs isolated from OA synovium of patients undergoing total knee replacement (Additional file 1: Fig. S2A). Here, MYD88 is linked to rheumatoid arthritis.