Effects of Sox9 gene therapy on the healing of bone-tendon junction: An experimental study

BACKGROUND: Sox9 is an operon that positively regulates the transcription of type II collagen. The generation of type II collagen plays a critical role in the healing process of the bone-tendon junction (BTJ). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sox9 was injected into an established bone-tendon healing model in order to observe its effect on the healing by determining the biomechanical properties of the BTJ. In addition, the recombinant adenovirus Sox9 was used to transduce the animal model samples and in vivo observations of the effect of the adenovirus-mediated Sox9 transduction as well as its promotion of the healing properties were made. RESULTS: Sox9 was not only able to promote the healing, but also increased the biomechanical strength. The recombinant Sox9 delivered by adenoviral vector can be expressed at a high level in the damaged tissues of the bone-tendon junction, which can stimulate the production of type II collagen and improve the healing of the BTJ. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results of this study, we considered that gene therapy may be applicable in the healing process of the bone-tendon junction.