Fetal and adult fibroblasts display intrinsic differences in tendon tissue engineering and regeneration

Injured adult tendons do not exhibit optimal healing through a regenerative process, whereas fetal tendons can heal in a regenerative fashion without scar formation. Hence, we compared FFs (mouse fetal fibroblasts) and AFs (mouse adult fibroblasts) as seed cells for the fabrication of scaffold-free engineered tendons. Our results demonstrated that FFs had more potential for tendon tissue engineering, as shown by higher levels of tendon-related gene expression. In the in situ AT injury model, the FFs group also demonstrated much better structural and functional properties after healing, with higher levels of collagen deposition and better microstructure repair. Moreover, fetal fibroblasts could increase the recruitment of fibroblast-like cells and reduce the infiltration of inflammatory cells to the injury site during the regeneration process. Our results suggest that the underlying mechanisms of better regeneration with FFs should be elucidated and be used to enhance adult tendon healing. This may assist in the development of future strategies to treat tendon injuries.