Muscle-derived activated endothelial cells as a new cell source to enhance tendon-to-bone healing: in vivo study in a murine rotator cuff repair model

Introduction: Cell-based approaches are expected to improve tendon-to-bone healing in rotator cuff tendon injuries. Recently, a specialized population of endothelial cells which produce signaling molecules that stimulate the intrinsic stem cells in specific tissues have been identified and reported. 4 Lebaschi A. Camp C. Carballo C. Cong G.-T. Album Z. Ying L. et al. Murine Supraspinatus Tendon Detachment and Repair Model Augmented With Tendon-Derived, Activated Endothelial Cells: A New Concept in Biologic Enhancement of Tendon-to-Bone Healing. In Annual Meeting of the Orthopedic Research Society. 2017http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jor.23581 Google Scholar We hypothesized that endothelial cells from muscle tissue could stimulate and enhance the tendon-to-bone healing. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the effects of the novel muscle-derived activated endothelial cells (mECs) implanted at the repair site in a murine rotator cuff repair model.