Histone methyltransferases and demethylases:regulators in balancing osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells

Mesenchymal stem cells(MSCs) are characterized by their self-renewing capacity and differentiation potential into multiple tissues. Thus,management of the differentiation capacities of MSCs is important for MSC-based regenerative medicine, such as craniofacial bone regeneration, and in new treatments for metabolic bone diseases, such as osteoporosis. In recent years, histone modification has been a growing topic in the field of MSC lineage specification, in which the Su(var)3–9, enhancer-of-zeste, trithorax(SET) domain-containing family and the Jumonji C(JmjC) domain-containing family represent the major histone lysine methyltransferases(KMTs) and histone lysine demethylases(KDMs), respectively. In this review, we summarize the current understanding of the epigenetic mechanisms by which SET domain-containing KMTs and Jmj C domain-containing KDMs balance the osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation of MSCs.