The Paratenon Contributes to Scleraxis-Expressing Cells during Patellar Tendon Healing
Figure 2
Scleraxis (Scx) and smooth muscle actin alpha (SMAA) coexpressing cells contribute to tendon healing.
Cells within the thickened paratenon and adjacent struts express both Scx (green) and SMAA (red) following injury. Cells within the paratenon do not express Scx in the normal PT, but smooth muscle cells within blood vessels in the paratenon express SMAA (B–C; red arrows). Regions of high Scx and SMAA expression are within the thickened paratenon and at the anterior and posterior surfaces of the tendon struts (G–L). Scx and SMAA coexpression extends into the interior of the struts with time as seen by the EDM histograms (M). The white arrowheads point to Scx-SMAA coexpressing cells. Error bars indicate ± SD. Scale bars are 200 µm in overviews (A, D, G, J) and 50 µm in insets (B, C, E, F, H, I, K, L).