Curr Stem Cell Res Ther. 2018 Oct 17. doi: 10.2174/1574888X13666181017112233. [Epub ahead of print]

The Potential Roles of Tendon Stem/Progenitor Cells in Tendon Ageing.

Li Y¹, Dai G², Shi L², Lin Y², Chen M², Li G³, Rui Y².

Abstract

Ageing is a key dangerous factor for the occurrence and severity of tendon injury, but the exact cognition of the relationship is elusive at present. More previous studies suggest age-related changes occur at tendon mechanical properties, structure and composition, but the pathological alternations may be overlooked, which might be causes for the structure and function variations, and even speed up the progress of age-related disorders. Recently, the presence of tendon stem/progenitor cells (TSPCs) would provide new insights for pathogenesis of tendon ageing. In this review, the tendon mechanical properties, structure and composition are presented in brief, then, the pathological changes of the ageing tendon are described firstly, and the latest researches on alterations of TSPCs in the pathogenesis of tendon ageing has also been analyzed. At a cellular level, the hypothetical model of altered TSPCs fate for tendon ageing is also proposed. Moreover, the regulation of TSPCs as potential way of the therapies for age-related tendon diseases is discussed. Therefore, reversing the impaired function of TSPCs and promoting the tenogenic differentiation of TSPCs could become hot spots of next-step study and give opportunity to establish new treatment strategies for age-related tendon injuries.