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Updated: Feb 28, 2026

Author Spotlight: Advancing Tendon Research by Developing Mouse Assembloids to Understand Cellular Mechanisms
Published on: March 22, 2024
Tendons and Ligaments: Connecting Developmental Biology to Musculoskeletal Disease Pathogenesis
Hiroshi Asahara1,2, Masafumi Inui3, Martin K Lotz1
1Department of Molecular Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Abstract:
Tendons and ligaments provide connections between muscle and bone or bone and bone to enable locomotion. Damage to tendons and ligaments caused by acute or chronic injury or associated with aging and arthritis is a prevalent cause of disability. Improvements in approaches for the treatment of these conditions depend on a better understanding of tendon and ligament development, cell biology, and pathophysiology. This review focuses on recent advances in the discovery of transcription factors that control ligament and tendon cell differentiation, how cell and extracellular matrix homeostasis are altered in disease, and how this new insight can lead to novel therapeutic approaches. © 2017 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
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