Reply: Thymoquinone targets endoplasmic reticulum stress to rescue tendon stem cell identity - a new era for tendinopathy therapy

Zhang provided a thoughtful and comprehensive appraisal of our study "Thymoquinone inhibited the chondrogenic differentiation of tendon-derived stem cells caused by tendon injury", and placed our findings within the broader context of tendon biology and endoplasmic reticulum stress research.We greatly appreciate his constructive insights and have addressed each of the points raised in his commentary "Thymoquinone targets endoplasmic reticulum stress to rescue tendon stem cell identity -a new era for tendinopathy therapy", including the limitations of our methodology and the complex relationship among unfolded protein response activation, oxidative stress, and cytokine signaling.Zhang' s comments provide valuable guidance for our future investigations.We will employ an improved in vitro model using uniaxial cyclic mechanical stretching and co-culture techniques.Additionally, animal studies will incorporate histopathological grading and biomechanical assessment.The interactions among unfolded protein response activation, oxidative stress, and cytokine signaling will also be systematically investigated.