Electrospun scaffolds for multiple tissues regeneration in vivo through topography dependent induction of lineage specific differentiation.

Physical topographic cues from various substrata have been shown to exert profound effects on the growth and differentiation of stem cells due to their niche-mimicking features. However, the biological function of different topographic materials utilized as bio-scaffolds in vivo have not been rigorously characterized. This study investigated the divergent differentiation pathways of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and neo-tissue formation trigged by aligned and randomly-oriented fibrous scaffolds, both in vitro and in vivo.

Fetal and adult fibroblasts display intrinsic differences in tendon tissue engineering and regeneration.

Injured adult tendons do not exhibit optimal healing through a regenerative process, whereas fetal tendons can heal in a regenerative fashion without scar formation. Hence, we compared FFs (mouse fetal fibroblasts) and AFs (mouse adult fibroblasts) as seed cells for the fabrication of scaffold-free engineered tendons. Our results demonstrated that FFs had more potential for tendon tissue engineering, as shown by higher levels of tendon-related gene expression.

Transplantation of fetal instead of adult fibroblasts reduces the probability of ectopic ossification during tendon repair.

Although cell transplantation therapy can effectively promote functional tendon repair, occasional ectopic ossification during tendon regeneration undermines its efficacy. The effect of transplanted cell types on ectopic ossification has not yet been systematically evaluated. This study compared the rate of ectopic ossification during tendon repair upon transplantation with mouse fetal fibroblasts (FFs) and their adult counterparts (adult fibroblasts [AFs]).

Force and scleraxis synergistically promote the commitment of human ES cells derived MSCs to tenocytes.

As tendon stem/progenitor cells were reported to be rare in tendon tissues, tendons as vulnerable targets of sports injury possess poor self-repair capability. Human ESCs (hESCs) represent a promising approach to tendon regeneration. But their teno-lineage differentiation strategy has yet to be defined.