Chondrocyte senescence and telomere regulation: implications in cartilage aging and cancer (a brief review).

Recent studies on osteoarthritis and the cartilage aging in our laboratory demonstrate that chronologic age correlates with molecular changes in human chondrocytes that affect cell cycle control and replicative life span. These findings indicate that age-related changes in chondrocytes may explain the heightened risk for development of primary osteoarthritis (OA) with increasing age. Concomitant studies of human chondrosarcoma suggest that these aging mechanisms may also play a role in preventing the malignant transformation of chondrocytes. The convergence at the molecular level of these seemingly dissimilar biologic processes provides an excellent opportunity to deepen our understanding of the fundamental processes underlying cartilage neoplasia, cartilage aging, and osteoarthritis.