Cartilage, Tendons, and Ligaments: Stem and Progenitor Cells in Adults

Injury to cartilage, tendons, and ligaments encompasses a significant portion of orthopedic morbidity within the population. Unlike other connective tissues, such as skin or bone, that may have almost complete regenerations rapidly after injury, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments do not repair as quickly or fully. Even utilizing best practices in treatment today, prognosis is still not optimal. Due to these challenges, researchers have pointed to stem cell therapies as a potential treatment in the future. Studies attempting to identify an effective method to utilize stem cells to promote healing and cell regeneration in damaged cartilage, tendons, and ligaments have increased dramatically over the past decade.