title: Effects of Sox9 gene therapy on the healing of bone-tendon junction: An experimental study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Sox9 is an operon that positively regulates the transcription of type II collagen. The generation of type II collagen plays a critical role in the healing process of the bone-tendon junction (BTJ).
  
  
  METHODS
  Sox9 was injected into an established bone-tendon healing model in order to observe its effect on the healing by determining the biomechanical properties of the BTJ. In addition, the recombinant adenovirus Sox9 was used to transduce the animal model samples and in vivo observations of the effect of the adenovirus-mediated Sox9 transduction as well as its promotion of the healing properties were made.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sox9 was not only able to promote the healing, but also increased the biomechanical strength. The recombinant Sox9 delivered by adenoviral vector can be expressed at a high level in the damaged tissues of the bone-tendon junction, which can stimulate the production of type II collagen and improve the healing of the BTJ.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on the results of this study, we considered that gene therapy may be applicable in the healing process of the bone-tendon junction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Wuhan University Zhongnan Hospital, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China ; Department of Orthopaedics, People's Hospital of Longgang District, Shenzhen, China.
authors.forename: Zhiqi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Wuhan University Zhongnan Hospital, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
authors.forename: Aixi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, People's Hospital of Longgang District, Shenzhen, China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, People's Hospital of Longgang District, Shenzhen, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoqing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, People's Hospital of Longgang District, Shenzhen, China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li
keywords: Bone-tendon junction healing; histological examination; recombinant adenovirus Sox9