Loss of hyaline chondrocyte phenotype during the monolayer culture in vitro is a major obstacle for cell-based articular cartilage repair. Increasing evidence implicates an important role of the epigenetic regulation in maintaining the chondrocyte phenotype. DNA methylation, histone modifications and microRNAs have all been shown to contribute to chondrocyte dedifferentiation and hypertrophy. Moreover, the interplay among epigenetic regulators forms a complicated epigenetic network in regulating chondrocyte dedifferentiation. This review provides a detailed overview of the epigenetic regulation in maintaining the chondrocyte phenotype for chondrocyte-based cartilage repair.
Keywords: DNA methylation; cartilage repair; chondrocyte phenotype; histone acetylation; microRNAs.