Specific non-myogenic mesenchymal cells contribute to rotator cuff tear pathologies and reveal novel therapeutic options

Rotator cuff tears (RCTs) within tendons of these muscles are common musculoskeletal injuries, often resulting in intramuscular fat, fibrosis, and muscle atrophy. Using a murine model of massive RCTs combined with lineage tracing, we demonstrate that muscle resident Pdgfra+ non-myogenic mesenchymal cells (NMMCs) are responsible for the fatty and fibrotic RCT pathologies.

Utilizing sorted Pdgfra+ cells from rotator cuff muscles and “deep” single cell RNA-sequencing, we identified a specific cell populations associated with RCT-induced fibrosis and intramuscular fat pathology.