Osteoarthritis (OA), long considered a primary disorder of articular cartilage, is commonly associated with subchondral bone sclerosis. However, the cellular mechanisms responsible for changes to subchondral bone in OA, and the extent to which these changes are drivers of or a secondary reaction to cartilage degeneration, remain unclear. In knee joints from human patients with end-stage OA, we found evidence of profound defects in osteocyte function.Suppression of osteocyte perilacunar/canalicular remodeling (PLR) was most severe in OA subchondral bone, with lower protease expression, diminished canalicular networks, and disorganized and hypermineralized extracellular matrix. To determine if PLR suppression plays a causal role in OA, we ablated the PLR enzyme MMP13 in osteocytes, while leaving chondrocytic MMP13 intact. Not only did osteocytic MMP13 deficiency suppress PLR in cortical and subchondral bone, but it also compromised cartilage. Even in the absence of injury, this osteocyte-intrinsic PLR defect was sufficient to reduce cartilage proteoglycan content and increase the incidence of cartilage lesions, consistent with early OA. Thus, in humans and mice, osteocyte PLR is a critical regulator of cartilage homeostasis. Together, these findings implicate osteocytes in bone-cartilage crosstalk in the joint and identify the causal role of suppressed perilacunar/canalicular remodeling in osteoarthritis.Recent reports have reinvigorated interest in the active role of osteocytes in remodeling their surrounding bone matrix -a process called perilacunar/canalicular remodeling (PLR) (7-10). PLR is a dynamic process by which osteocytes secrete matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) (11-13), cathepsin K (CatK) (8), and other enzymes (14,15) to dynamically resorb and then replace the local bone matrix. PLR maintains bone material properties (11,16,17), systemic mineral homeostasis (8,10), and the canalicular channels that facilitate osteocyte communication, mechanosensation, and nourishment (7,18,19). Several known regulators of bone homeostasis,