A CD26+ tendon stem progenitor cell population contributes to tendon repair and heterotopic ossification

Siwen Chen, Yingxin Lin, Hao Yang, Zihao Li, Sifang Li, Dongying Chen, Wenjun Hao, Shuai Zhang, Hua Chao, Jingyu Zhang, Jianru Wang, Zemin Li, Xiang Li, Zhongping Zhan and Hui Liu ()
Additional contact information
Siwen Chen: Sun Yat-sen University
Yingxin Lin: The University of Sydney
Hao Yang: Peking University
Zihao Li: Sun Yat-sen University
Sifang Li: Sun Yat-sen University
Dongying Chen: Sun Yat-sen University
Wenjun Hao: Sun Yat-sen University
Shuai Zhang: Sun Yat-sen University
Hua Chao: Sun Yat-sen University
Jingyu Zhang: Sun Yat-sen University
Jianru Wang: Sun Yat-sen University
Zemin Li: Sun Yat-sen University
Xiang Li: Sun Yat-sen University
Zhongping Zhan: Sun Yat-sen University
Hui Liu: Sun Yat-sen University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-18

Abstract: Abstract Inadequate tendon healing and heterotopic bone formation result in substantial pain and disability, yet the specific cells responsible for tendon healing remain uncertain. Here we identify a CD26+ tendon stem/progenitor cells residing in peritendon, which constitutes a primitive stem cell population with self-renewal and multipotent differentiation potentials. CD26+ tendon stem/progenitor cells migrate into the tendon midsubstance and differentiation into tenocytes during tendon healing, while ablation of these cells led to insufficient tendon healing. Additionally, CD26+ tendon stem/progenitor cells contribute to heterotopic ossification and Tenascin-C-Hippo signaling is involved in this process. Targeting Tenascin-C significantly suppresses chondrogenesis of CD26+ tendon stem/progenitor cells and subsequent heterotopic ossification. Our findings provide insights into the identification of tendon stem/progenitor cells and illustrate the essential role of CD26+ tendon stem/progenitor cells in tendon healing and heterotopic bone formation.

Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-56112-5 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-56112-5

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-56112-5

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().