Tendon cell and tissue culture: Perspectives and recommendations

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Cell Biology
• Orthopedic Research

Background:

• Diverse cell and tissue culture systems for tendon research complicate experimental design and reproducibility.
• Lack of standardized guidelines hinders the selection of optimal culture conditions for hypothesis testing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish guidelines for conducting cell and tissue culture studies of tendons.
• To provide recommendations for optimizing culture conditions for both tendon cell behavior research and tendon tissue engineering.

Main Methods:

• A breakout session at the 2022 ORS Tendon Section Meeting convened experts to discuss and formulate guidelines.
• The discussion outcomes were summarized to present recommendations for future tendon research.

Main Results:

• For studying tendon cell behavior, culture conditions should be strictly defined to mimic in vivo environments.
• For tendon tissue engineering, outcome measures must be narrowly defined for specific clinical applications, not necessarily replicating native tendon.
• Common recommendations include baseline phenotypic characterization of cells and meticulous reporting of culture conditions.

Conclusions:

• Standardized guidelines are crucial for advancing tendon cell biology and tissue engineering research.
• Recommendations focus on defining culture conditions, assessing relevance, and prioritizing clinically relevant outcomes for successful translation.