RESUMEN
BACKGROUND:Apoptosis of chondrocytes eventualy leads to osteoarthritis. New studies find many mechanisms of chondrocyte apoptosis, but the mechanism of endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced chondrocyte apoptosis is stil in the first stage. OBJECTIVE: To review how the endoplasmic reticulum stress causes the chondrocyte apoptosis and to explore a new method of treatment for osteoarthritis. METHODS: A computer-based online search of PubMed database, CNKI database and Wangfang database between January 2000 and January 2015 was performed to search related articles with the key words of “endoplasmic reticulum stress, chondrocyte, apoptosis” in English or in Chinese, respectively. The word “AND” was used for the connection between the word retrieval. Literatures related to osteoarthritis were selected; the articles published lately in authoritative journals were preferred. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: A total of 62 literatures were primarily selected, and 57 documents were involved in result analysis according to inclusion criteria. PERK, IRE1 and ATF6 play an important role in the chondrocytes. Endoplasmic reticulum stress-mediated apoptosis mechanisms include two kinds, UPR and Ca2+start signal, but the specific mechanism and the interactions between apoptosis pathway are unclear. Inhibitory molecules for chondrocyte apoptosis in these signaling pathways as treatment targets for osteoarthritis may provide new methods for the treatment of osteoarthritis.