Therapeutic potential and mechanisms of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells differentiating into tendon cells and promotion of rotator cuff tendon-bone healing

Rotator cuff tendon injuries are a common problem that can be hard to fully heal with traditional treatments. This research explores using umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UCMSCs) to help. The study looks at how UCMSCs can turn into tendon cells using certain growth factors. They found that a factor called CTGF works best for this transformation. They also discovered that a gene called Hes1 is important for helping UCMSCs become tendon cells and for healing rotator cuff injuries in rats.

• 1
  CTGF was found to be the most effective growth factor for inducing the differentiation of UCMSCs into tendon cells, leading to changes in cell morphology and increased expression of tendon-specific proteins.
• 2
  Single-cell sequencing analysis identified key cellular subpopulations (Attachment cell, stem cell, and tendon cell) and signaling pathways involved in the differentiation process.
• 3
  Overexpression of the Hes1 gene significantly promoted the differentiation of UCMSCs to tendon cells and demonstrated a therapeutic effect in repairing rotator cuff injuries in an animal model.