Kappa Delta Elizabeth Winston Lanier Award: Understanding the Role of Fibroadipoprogenitor Cells in Rotator Cuff Disease

Rotator cuff tears represent a unique modifiable disease entity where muscle quality dictates outcomes of surgical repair, thus making it an appealing target for muscle stem cell-based treatments. Cuff tears are extremely common, with a rising incidence in an aging population. Several studies have shown that muscle quality governs outcomes after rotator cuff repair. Even after successful repair, muscle atrophy and fatty infiltration remain, and continued muscle atrophy with increased fatty infiltration result in higher retear rates and decreased patient function. We have endeavored in this review to capture our body of work and tell the story of our research progression through the past 15 years, from building a preclinical model, to determining the cellular source of fatty infiltration, to returning to refinements of mouse models. During this time, we continually have sought to leverage advances in science and technology to improve our understanding of muscle physiology as it pertains to musculoskeletal and orthopaedic research.