The important function of the endplate is to help the intervertebral disc to transmit stress and supply nutrition. Endplate degeneration might induce or promote degeneration of the intervertebral disc, causing a series of spine diseases that seriously impair people's health and life quality. Endplate chondrocytes can respond to mechanical stimulation, which is an important factor affecting endplate degeneration. Inappropriate mechanical stimulation will accelerate endplate degeneration. This review summarized the effects of mechanical stimulation on vertebral endplate chondrocyte apoptosis, synthesis inhibition, calcification, and extracellular matrix degradation. The endplate degeneration induced by mechanical stimulation is regulated by a complex network of signal pathways composed of various signal transduction factors. The signal pathways involved in this review included NF-κB signaling pathway, Wnt signaling pathway, Hedgehog signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, RhoA/Rock-1 signaling pathway, AKT/mTOR signaling pathway, TGF-β signaling pathway and miRNA related signals. The interconnection of these pathways was highlighted and summarized. The review showed that multiple signaling pathways work together to regulate endplate chondrocyte metabolism, which ultimately leads to endplate degeneration. This review might shed light on early diagnosis and precise treatment of cartilage endplate degeneration.