CBFB and osteoarthritis: While the Acan-creERT system, as employed in both current and previous studies (Che et al., 2023; Zhang et al., 2024), provides valuable insights into the role of Cbfβ in differentiated cartilage cells and its implications in the advanced stages of osteoarthritis, our current study also used Cbfbf/f;Col2a1-CreERT aimed to explore the gene’s function from a broader perspective.