Vitamin C effects on 5-hydroxymethylcytosine and gene expression in osteoblasts and chondrocytes: Potential involvement of PHD2.

ABSTRACT: Vitamin C (ascorbic acid, AA) is a well-known regulator of bone and cartilage metabolism. However, the mechanisms of AA's action in these tissues are only partly understood. In this study, we confirmed that AA contributes to bone and cartilage metabolism by showing decreased articular cartilage and trabecular bone in AA-deficient spontaneous fracture (sfx) mutant mice. In vitro, we found that AA exerts differential effects on chondrocyte and osteoblast differentiation. Since AA is known to increase levels of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC) and induce DNA demethylation via the ten-eleven translocases (TETs), and since prolyl hydroxylase domain-containing protein 2 (PHD2), a known mediator of AA's effects in these tissues, is part of the same enzyme family as the TETs, we next investigated w

SUBMITTER: Lindsey RC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6685624 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature