Enhancement of rotator cuff tendon–bone healing with injectable periosteum progenitor cells-BMP-2 hydrogel in vivo

Purpose The fixation and incorporation of ruptured rotator cuff tendon to bone is a major concern in rotator cuff repair surgery. Rotator cuff repair usually fails at the tendon–bone interface, especially in case of large or massive tears. To enhance tendon–bone healing, an injectable hydrogel made with periosteal progenitor cells(PPCs) and poly (ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) tethered with bone morphogenic protein-2(BMP-2) was developed to encourage extracellular matrix synthesis for tendon-to-bone healing in rotator cuff repair.