Abstract:Objective To isolate and culture rabbit tendon stem cells in vitro by a modified fractional enzyme digestion method, observe their biological characteristics, and induce and identify their differentiation. Methods Rabbit patellar tendon tissue was removed under sterile condition. After the tissue was digested by a modified fractional enzyme digestion method and enzyme digestion method respectively, a low-density dilution inoculation method was adopted to isolate, culture and passage the rabbit tendon stem cells. Morphological characteristics of the cells were observed under an inverted phase contrast microscope and the growth curves of the cells isolated from the tendon tissue with the two methods were drawn. The expressions of tendon stem cell surface antigen markers were identified by a flow cytometer. The P3-P4 generations of the tendon stem cells were induced for the differentiation into osteoblasts and chondroblasts, and the differentiation was identified. Results The proliferation of tendon stem cells isolated by the modified fractional enzymatic digestion and inoculated with low-density dilution inoculation method was accelerated, and the cell shapes were uniform with few impure cells. Surface antigen markers CD90 and CD44 of the isolated tendon stem cells were positive, but CD34 and CD14 were negative, indicating that the isolated cells were the tendon stem cells and the identified tendon stem cells had the ability of differentiation into osteoblasts and chondroblasts. Conclusions The modified fractional enzyme digestion for isolation and culture of rabbit tendon stem cells is simple and practicable. The growth and passage speed of the cells are satisfactory, their viability is good, and the purity is high. In addition, the successful isolation and culture of tendon stem cells may create a new way for the research on tendon-related diseases.