Assessment of stem cell carriers for tendon tissue engineering in pre-clinical models

Tendon injuries are prevalent and problematic, especially among young and otherwise healthy individuals. The inherently slow innate healing process combined with the inevitable scar tissue formation compromise functional recovery, imposing the need for the development of therapeutic strategies. The limited number of low activity/reparative capacity tendon-resident cells has directed substantial research efforts towards the exploration of the therapeutic potential of various stem cells in tendon injuries and pathophysiologies. Severe injuries require the use of a stem cell carrier to enable cell localisation at the defect site. The present study describes advancements that injectable carriers, tissue grafts, anisotropically orientated biomaterials, and cell-sheets have achieved in preclinical models as stem cell carriers for tendon repair.