About the Authors

Giovanna Distefano

Affiliations Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America, Department of Physical Therapy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Ricardo Jose Ferrari

Affiliations Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America, Department of Physical Therapy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Christopher Weiss

Affiliation Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Bridget M. Deasy

Affiliation McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Michael L. Boninger

Affiliations Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America, McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America

G. Kelley Fitzgerald

Affiliation Department of Physical Therapy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Johnny Huard

Affiliations Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America, McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Fabrisia Ambrosio

ambrosiof@upmc.edu

Affiliations Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America, Department of Physical Therapy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America, McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Competing Interests

The authors have read the journal's policy and have the following conflicts: One of the co-authors, Johnny Huard, has a potential financial conflict of interest because he has received remuneration as a consultant with Cook MyoSite Incorporated during the performance period of this project. None of the other authors has a financial or other relationship that might lead to conflict of interest concerning the publication of this manuscript. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: GD RJF CW BMD MLB GKF JH FA. Performed the experiments: GD RJF CW. Analyzed the data: GD RJF CW FA. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: BMD GKF JH. Wrote the paper: GD FA.