The body's integrated repair kit: Studying mesenchymal stem cells for better ligament repair

Abstract

In this issue of the Biomedical Journal, we learn that the sport injury-prone knee ligaments might harbour their own repair kit in the form of mesenchymal stem cells, and that TERT transformation helps to keep these cells longer in culture for more extensive studies. In addition, we get a demonstration that diffusion tensor imaging can reliably show the activity of specific neural circuits, that rheumatoid arthritis patients are more prone to insulin resistance, and that platelet-enriched plasma gels significantly improve wound healing after pilonidal sinus surgery. Furthermore, two procreation-related articles inform us that growth hormone treatment improves endometrial receptivity in older women, and that elevated maternal liver enzymes do not impact on the outcome of laser therapy for twin-twin transfusion syndrome. Finally, our attention is brought to the importance of subjective well-being evaluation for orthodontic correction needs, as well as the possibility that exercise could maybe increase sperm telomere length.

Keywords: Diffusion tensor imaging; Growth hormone therapy; Mesenchymal stem cells; Pilonidal sinus surgery; Sperm telomere length.