title: Physical regulation of stem cells differentiation into teno-lineage: current strategies and future direction.
abstract: Tendon injuries are commonly encountered in the clinic, disrupting the patient's normal work/life routine and damaging the career life of athletes. Currently, there is still no effective treatment for tendon injury. Tendon tissue engineering appears to be a promising route for tendon repair and regeneration. However, current strategies utilized in research are still far away from clinical applications due to unsuccessful cellular differentiation to tendon/tenocytes. In this review, we focus on the current physical strategies (mechanical stimulation and extracellular matrix topography) and evaluate their roles in precise and stepwise tendon differentiation. A systematic comprehension of normal tendon development process by structure, gene profile and physical microenvironment analysis is likely suggestive for stepwise tenocyte differentiation.
authors.affiliation: Mailbox #39 Center for Stem Cell and Tissue Engineering, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, 866 Yu Hang Tang Road, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
authors.forename: Jia Lin
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Ze Yu
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Boon Chin
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Heng
authors.forename: Hong Wei
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Ouyang
authors.forename: Xue Song
authors.initials: XS
authors.lastname: Dai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D006801:Humans; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D013708:Tendon Injuries / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D013710:Tendons / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*