DNA Methylation in Osteoarthritis.

ABSTRACT: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent disease of articular joints and primarily characterized by degradation and calcification of articular cartilage. Presently, no effective treatment other than pain relief exists and patients ultimately need to undergo replacement surgery of the affected joint. During disease progression articular chondrocytes, the single cell type present in articular cartilage, show altered transcriptional profiles and undergo phenotypic changes that resemble the terminal differentiation route apparent in growth plate chondrocytes. Hence, given its prominent function in both regulating gene expression and maintaining cellular phenotypes, DNA methylation of CpG dinucleotides is intensively studied in the context of OA. An increasing number of studies have been published th

SUBMITTER: den Hollander W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4765529 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature