THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG SPATIOTEMPORAL GENE EXPRESSION, HISTOLOGY, AND BIOMECHANICS FOLLOWING FULL-LENGTH INJURY IN THE MURINE PATELLAR TENDON

摘要

Tendon and ligament injuries present a considerable socioeconomic impact as close to 50% of the 32 million musculoskeletal injuries in the US per year include these structures [1]. The inadequate healing in these tissues requires novel treatment modalities. Improving tendon tissue engineering dictates that we better understand the process of natural adult tendon healing. Type-I (Coll) and Type-II (Col2) collagens are important structural proteins in tendon as Coll is the main collagen type found in the tendon midsubstance while Col2 is expressed at the insertion into bone during development, growth, and healing [2-3].