No abstract

The problem of tendon and ligament (T/L) regeneration in musculoskeletal diseases has long constituted a major challenge. In situ injection of formable biodegradable hydrogels, however, has been demonstrated to treat T/L injury and reduce patient suffering in a minimally invasive manner. An injectable hydrogel is more suitable than other biological materials due to the special physiological structure of T/L. Most other materials utilized to repair T/L are cell‐based, growth factor‐based materials, with few material properties. In addition, the mechanical property of the gel cannot reach the normal T/L level. This review summarizes advances in natural and synthetic polymeric injectable hydrogels for tissue engineering in T/L and presents prospects for injectable and biodegradable hydrogels for its treatment. In future T/L applications, it is necessary develop an injectable hydrogel with mechanics, tissue damage‐specific binding, and disease response. Simultaneously, the advantages of various biological materials must be combined in order to achieve personalized precision therapy.

Tendon injuries are common musculoskeletal system disorders, but the tendons have poor regeneration ability. To address this issue, tendon tissue engineering provides potential strategies for future therapeutic treatment. Elements of the physical microenvironment, such as the mechanical force and surface topography, play a vital role in regulating stem cell fate, enhancing the differentiation efficiency of seed cells in tendon tissue engineering. Various inducible scaffolds have been widely explored for tendon regeneration, and scaffold-enhancing modifications have been extensively studied. In this review, we systematically summarize the effects of the physical microenvironment on stem cell differentiation and tendon regeneration; we also provide an overview of the inducible scaffolds for stem cell tenogenic differentiation. Finally, we suggest some potential scaffold-based therapies for tendon injuries, presenting an interesting perspective on tendon regenerative medicine.

No abstract