Engineering Tendon: Scaffolds, Bioreactors, and Models of Regeneration

Tendons bridge muscle and bone, translating forces to the skeleton and increasing the safety and efficiency of locomotion. When tendons fail or degenerate, there are no effective pharmacological interventions. The lack of available options to treat damaged tendons has created a need to better unders...

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Main Authors: Daniel W. Youngstrom, Jennifer G. Barrett
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2016-01-01
Series:Stem Cells International
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/3919030
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author Daniel W. Youngstrom
Jennifer G. Barrett
author_facet Daniel W. Youngstrom
Jennifer G. Barrett
author_sort Daniel W. Youngstrom
collection DOAJ
description Tendons bridge muscle and bone, translating forces to the skeleton and increasing the safety and efficiency of locomotion. When tendons fail or degenerate, there are no effective pharmacological interventions. The lack of available options to treat damaged tendons has created a need to better understand and improve the repair process, particularly when suitable autologous donor tissue is unavailable for transplantation. Cells within tendon dynamically react to loading conditions and undergo phenotypic changes in response to mechanobiological stimuli. Tenocytes respond to ultrastructural topography and mechanical deformation via a complex set of behaviors involving force-sensitive membrane receptor activity, changes in cytoskeletal contractility, and transcriptional regulation. Effective ex vivo model systems are needed to emulate the native environment of a tissue and to translate cell-matrix forces with high fidelity. While early bioreactor designs have greatly expanded our knowledge of mechanotransduction, traditional scaffolds do not fully model the topography, composition, and mechanical properties of native tendon. Decellularized tendon is an ideal scaffold for cultivating replacement tissue and modeling tendon regeneration. Decellularized tendon scaffolds (DTS) possess high clinical relevance, faithfully translate forces to the cellular scale, and have bulk material properties that match natural tissue. This review summarizes progress in tendon tissue engineering, with a focus on DTS and bioreactor systems.
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spelling doaj-art-4b4dd320a7854fde87d416e682cb48802025-08-20T02:38:33ZengWileyStem Cells International1687-966X1687-96782016-01-01201610.1155/2016/39190303919030Engineering Tendon: Scaffolds, Bioreactors, and Models of RegenerationDaniel W. Youngstrom0Jennifer G. Barrett1Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center, Virginia Tech, 17690 Old Waterford Road, Leesburg, VA 20176, USADepartment of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center, Virginia Tech, 17690 Old Waterford Road, Leesburg, VA 20176, USATendons bridge muscle and bone, translating forces to the skeleton and increasing the safety and efficiency of locomotion. When tendons fail or degenerate, there are no effective pharmacological interventions. The lack of available options to treat damaged tendons has created a need to better understand and improve the repair process, particularly when suitable autologous donor tissue is unavailable for transplantation. Cells within tendon dynamically react to loading conditions and undergo phenotypic changes in response to mechanobiological stimuli. Tenocytes respond to ultrastructural topography and mechanical deformation via a complex set of behaviors involving force-sensitive membrane receptor activity, changes in cytoskeletal contractility, and transcriptional regulation. Effective ex vivo model systems are needed to emulate the native environment of a tissue and to translate cell-matrix forces with high fidelity. While early bioreactor designs have greatly expanded our knowledge of mechanotransduction, traditional scaffolds do not fully model the topography, composition, and mechanical properties of native tendon. Decellularized tendon is an ideal scaffold for cultivating replacement tissue and modeling tendon regeneration. Decellularized tendon scaffolds (DTS) possess high clinical relevance, faithfully translate forces to the cellular scale, and have bulk material properties that match natural tissue. This review summarizes progress in tendon tissue engineering, with a focus on DTS and bioreactor systems.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/3919030
spellingShingle Daniel W. Youngstrom
Jennifer G. Barrett
Engineering Tendon: Scaffolds, Bioreactors, and Models of Regeneration
Stem Cells International
title Engineering Tendon: Scaffolds, Bioreactors, and Models of Regeneration
title_full Engineering Tendon: Scaffolds, Bioreactors, and Models of Regeneration
title_fullStr Engineering Tendon: Scaffolds, Bioreactors, and Models of Regeneration
title_full_unstemmed Engineering Tendon: Scaffolds, Bioreactors, and Models of Regeneration
title_short Engineering Tendon: Scaffolds, Bioreactors, and Models of Regeneration
title_sort engineering tendon scaffolds bioreactors and models of regeneration
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/3919030
work_keys_str_mv AT danielwyoungstrom engineeringtendonscaffoldsbioreactorsandmodelsofregeneration
AT jennifergbarrett engineeringtendonscaffoldsbioreactorsandmodelsofregeneration