Tendons are dense fibrous structures that attach muscles to bones. Healing of tendon injuries is a clinical challenge owing to poor regenerative potential and scarring. Here, we created reporter mice that express EGFP, driven by the promoter of the tendon-specific Scleraxis (Scx) transcription-factor gene; we then generated induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from these mice. Utilising these fluorescently labelled iPSCs, we developed a tenogenic differentiation protocol. The iPSC-derived EGFP-positive cells exhibited elevated expression of tendon-specific genes, including Scx, Mohawk, Tenomodulin, and Fibromodulin, indicating that they have tenocyte-like properties. Finally, we demonstrated that these cells promoted tendon regeneration in mice after transplantation into injured tendons reducing scar formation via paracrine effect. Our data demonstrate that the tenogenic differentiation protocol successfully provided functional cells from iPSCs. We propose that pluripotent stem cell-based therapy using this protocol will provide an effective therapeutic approach for tendon injuries.Tendons are fibrous connective tissues that attach muscles to bones. Tendon injuries and tendinopathies caused by overuse or age-related degeneration are common problems in adult patients, constituting approximately 30% of musculoskeletal diseases 1 . Tendon tissue has a slow metabolism and tolerates hypoxia; however, it requires a long period to reacquire sufficient strength after injury due to poor regenerative potential caused by its hypocellularity and hypovascularity 2,3 . Recent studies have demonstrated that injured tendons in adult mice do not recover by building normal tendon tissue, but by building scar tissue produced by myofibroblasts 4 . Scar tissue has lower tensile strength than normal tendon tissue; therefore, physiological healing of tendon disorders in adult patients remains a significant medical challenge.Several potential approaches for tendon regeneration have been developed, including pharmacological, biomaterial, and cell-transplantation therapies using stem/progenitor cells 1,2 . Stem-cell therapy can exploit multiple sources, including mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs), tendon stem/ progenitor cells (TSPCs), embryonic stem cells (ESCs), and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) 2,3,5-9 . Since the discovery of iPSCs 10,11 , the differentiation of many cell types has been induced from them, via well-established protocols [12][13][14] .Although there have been reports of several tenogenic differentiation protocols from pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs/ESCs) using transforming growth factor (TGF)-β3 and three-dimensional culture 15,16 , bone morphogenic protein (BMP) 12/13 and ascorbic acid 17 , and well-aligned, chitosan-based ultrafine fibers 18 , none have described the isolation of tenogenic cells with measurements of induction efficiency. Moreover, only a few studies have addressed therapeutic validity in vivo 18 .