Identification of the tendon/ligament stem cell in mice and humans.

Ligamentum flavum–relevant tendon/ligament stem cells in mice and humans are identified as Lin-Thy1.2-Sca-1-CD73+CD140α- cells that self-renew and generate all tenocyte lineage cells.

• Why it matters: Lumbar spinal stenosis lacks medical therapies because the tendon/ligament stem cell mediating ligamentum flavum hypertrophy remains unclear.
• What they did: Using in vivo somatic-variant-based lineage tracing, the authors mapped the TLSC as the apex of the tenocyte differentiation hierarchy and tested LSS induction for intrinsic reprogramming.
• The result: LSS induction caused calcium signaling-dependent, druggable, cell-intrinsic reprogramming of TLSCs to increase tenocyte output, linking dysregulated TLSC differentiation to LSS.

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