Tenocytes

Tenocytes are tendon-specific fibroblasts and are considered to be made up approximately 95% of tendon tissue. How tenocytes are generated during embryonic development remains unclear. Tenocytes are transformed from tenoblasts. The tenoblasts are round cells with large and oval nuclei. Mature tenocytes are spindle-shaped, 80–300 in diameter, with long and thin processes. The cell processes extend outward from the cell body, making the tenocytes look like spiders from transection view. Tenocytes are located between collagen fibrils and are responsible for the production of extracellular matrix (ECM) as well as maintenance and restore of tendon tissue. Tenogenic differentiation markers are commonly used for the identification of tenocytes.

Large rotator cuff tears are difficult to repair and present a challenging problem for orthopaedic surgeons. As such, tendon tissue engineering may be an attractive alternative solution to the existing surgical approaches. Studying the survival, proliferation and differentiation potential of tenocytes under defined culture conditions will provide evidence and basis for tenocyte-based tendon tissue engineering objectives.