Growth and development of tendons

Abstract

Tendons appear in the mesenchyme of the limb bud at 6 to 8 weeks of fetal life and join with the muscles originating from the somites. They are initially very cellular but become less so throughout growth to adulthood as matrix elements are synthesized. Their collagen fibrils become larger in diameter during maturation while the tendons are also gaining in cross section. Longitudinal growth is diffuse, rather than occurring at a growth plate as in bone, and the mechanism of this growth appears to involve the sliding of collagen fibers or fibrils past one another.