MSCs - Differentiation | stemcellscmu

WHAT is the fate of

Mesenchymal stem cells differentiate into many different cell types that will eventually become connective tissues such as:
- Bone, cartilage, muscle, tendon, ligament, adipose

Ligaments join one bone to another.
The elasticity of the fibrous ligaments allows them to change shape and lengthen under stress and then return to their original shapes.
Tendon usually connects muscle to bone.
All tendons share basic structural components and majorly work with muscle to move bones.
Cartilage is present in the rib cage, the ear, the nose and also part of the joints between bones, which is specifically called articular cartilage.
Articular cartilages have no blood, lymphatic or nerve supply so they have very limited self-repair capability.

Adipose tissue is another name for body fat, which is a loose connective tissue.
It functions to store energy and insulate the body
Muscle is a soft tissue that functions to produce force and motion.
There are 3 types of muscle, though only skeletal and smooth muscles are derived from MSCs:
- Skeletal - connected to tendons, responsible for locomotion
- Smooth - found in internal organs, called "involuntary" because they contract without you thinking about it
- Cardiac - involuntary like smooth muscle, but found only in the heart, similar structure to skeletal muscle