title: Tendon Stem Cells: Mechanobiology and Development of Tendinopathy.
abstract: Millions of people suffer from tendon injuries in both occupational and athletic settings. However, the restoration of normal structure and function to injured tendons still remains as one of the greatest challenges in orthopaedics and sports medicine. In recent years, a remarkable advancement in tendon research field has been the discovery of tendon stem/progenitor cells (TSCs). Unlike tenocytes, the predominant resident cell in tendons, TSCs have the ability to self-renew and multi-differentiate. Because of these distinct properties, TSCs may play a critical role in tendon physiology as well as pathology such as tendinopathy, which is a prevalent chronic tendon injury. Additionally, because TSCs are tendon-specific stem cells, they could potentially be used in tendon tissue engineering in vitro, and serve as a promising cell source for cell-based therapy to effectively repair or even regenerate injured tendons in clinical settings.
authors.affiliation: MechanoBiology Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 210 Lothrop Street, BST, E1640, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA. wanghc@pitt.edu.
authors.forename: James H-C
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: MechanoBiology Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 210 Lothrop Street, BST, E1640, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA.
authors.forename: Issei
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Komatsu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D001703:Biophysics; D006801:Humans; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D052256:Tendinopathy / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D013710:Tendons / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D013718:Tensile Strength; D023822:Tissue Engineering
keywords: Mechanobiology; Multi-differentiation; Self-renewal; Tendon stem cells