In Vivo and In Vitro Tendon Engineering

Tendon is an important supportive tissue of human body responsible for normal physical activity. However, tendon damage and defect remain an important factor for causing disability. The rise of tissue engineering technology provides an effective means of tendon reconstruction and repair, which will bring promise for functional recovery. In our center, tendon engineering is one of major research areas. We have performed the in vivo study by using tenocytes and polyglycolic acid fibers to reconstruct and repair tendon defect in hen and porcine models. The results demonstrated the successful regeneration and repair of tendon defects created in different models. In addition, tendon function was also well recovered by generated autologous tendon tissue that possesses strong biomechanical property. Recently, we have also successfully generated tendon tissue in vitro by using static strain device and bioreactors, which could be potentially transplanted as the tendon graft for tendon defect repair.