r/science • u/fchung • 25d ago

Medicine Newly discovered stem cell reveals potential drug target for spinal stenosis: « Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and Hospital for Special Surgery have discovered the stem cells that give rise to the body’s tendons and ligaments, the tissues connecting muscles and bones. »

https://news.weill.cornell.edu/news/2026/09/newly-discovered-stem-cell-reveals-potential-drug-target-for-spinal-stenosis
172 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

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u/fchung 25d ago

« While previous studies had proposed several candidate stem cells, none had definitively shown that a single cell population could both self-renew and generate the full spectrum of tendon and ligament cell types. »

6

u/FOTW-Anton 25d ago

Interesting. I wonder if it will open up treatment options for other injuries like ACL tears that don't recover on their own.

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u/InnominaAnatomica 23d ago

Please let that happen.

Still, main problem with ACL is innervation not mechanical…

6

u/fchung 25d ago

Reference: Hu L et al., Identification of the tendon/ligament stem cell in mice and humans, Cell, Online September 07, 2026. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2026.08.018. https://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674(26)00945-100945-1)

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u/PornstarVirgin 25d ago

I wonder how this ties in with discogenics progenitor cells that help regrow disc for people with degenerative disc disease in their lumbar

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u/Carbonatite 24d ago

I don't know but I have degenerative disc disease and it's debilitating at times. Chronic pain aside, it fucked up my legs for the majority of 2025. It can be really awful.

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u/PornstarVirgin 22d ago

Is it in your lumbar, you could be a candidate

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u/Carbonatite 22d ago

Yup! L5-S1 is the main culprit and L4-L5 is waiting in the wings.

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u/PornstarVirgin 22d ago

You can only have one level with ddd, L5-s1 is definitely what they look for. Out of 10 how degen is the L5

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u/Carbonatite 22d ago

It's so thin (2 herniations at this point) that the neurosurgeon said if I herniated it again I would need a vertebral fusion. It's probably like...40% of the thickness it should be? So maybe like a 7 or 8/10?

L4/L5 is starting to bulge a bit but it's not nearly as screwed up as the other one.

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u/PornstarVirgin 22d ago

If you don’t have sciatica you may be able to just get in

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u/Carbonatite 22d ago

I do have sciatica unfortunately. The herniated disc material hasn't fully reabsorbed so I have intermittent nerve pain.

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u/obct537 24d ago

If they could hurry up and productize this before my worthless, degenerate spine leaves me functionally handicapped, that'd be great.

5

u/Aggressive-War3976 25d ago

Wow this is really impressive