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ACL injuries and stem cell therapy

  • Arthroscopy and Sports Medicine
  • Published:
Archives of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Tears of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) are very frequent injuries, particularly in young and active people. Arthroscopic reconstruction using tendon auto- or allograft represents the gold-standard for the management of ACL tears. Interestingly, the ACL has the potential to heal upon intensive non-surgical rehabilitation procedures. Several biological factors influence this healing process as local intraligamentous cytokines and mainly cell repair mechanisms controlled by stem cells or progenitor cells. Understanding the mechanisms of this regeneration process and the cells involved may pave the way for novel, less invasive and biology-based strategies for ACL repair. This review aims to focus on the current knowledge on the mechanisms of ACL healing, the nature and potential of ligament derived stem/progenitor cells as well as on the potential and the limitations of using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for treating injured ACL.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Hermann and Marianne Straniak Foundation (Sarnen, Switzerland) and by grants Nr. E09/09/051-BAH and R-13/02/047-TEM, Nr. E09/09/051-BAH and R-13/02/047-TEM from the Paracelsus Medical University Research Fund (Salzburg, Austria). The Institute for Tendon and Bone Regeneration is part of the Austrian Cluster for Tissue Regeneration.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Trauma Surgery and Sports Injuries, University Hospital of Salzburg, Muellner Hauptstraße 48, 5020, Salzburg, Austria

    Corinna Hirzinger & Michael Quirchmayr

  2. Institute of Tendon and Bone Regeneration, Spinal Cord Injury and Tissue Regeneration Center Salzburg, Paracelsus Medical University, Strubergasse 22, 5020, Salzburg, Austria

    Corinna Hirzinger, Stefanie Korntner, Hans-Christian Bauer, Andreas Traweger & Herbert Tempfer

  3. ATOS Clinic Munich, Effnerstraße 38, 81925, Munich, Germany

    Mark Tauber

  4. Paracelsus Medical University Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria

    Mark Tauber

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  1. Corinna Hirzinger
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  2. Mark Tauber
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  3. Stefanie Korntner
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Correspondence to Herbert Tempfer.

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Hirzinger, C., Tauber, M., Korntner, S. et al. ACL injuries and stem cell therapy. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg 134, 1573–1578 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00402-014-2060-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00402-014-2060-2

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