capable of chondrocyte homeostatic chondrocyte HomC GitHub Copilot A chondrocyte identified in both healthy and osteoarthritic human articular cartilage, and in intervertebral disc tissue. In healthy articular cartilage, a homeostatic chondrocyte is characterised by the expression of TXNIP, IFITM3, GDF15, and TIMP1 (Wang et al., 2021), among other extracellular matrix and regulatory molecules. This cell maintains cartilage integrity by producing key ECM components and supporting baseline tissue homeostasis. In OA cartilage, this cell is enriched for genes related to cellular homeostasis modulation, including regulation of the cell cycle, development, and RNA metabolism (Ji et al., 2018). extracellular matrix constituent secretion cartilage homeostasis