A tendon or sinew is a tough band of fibrous connective tissue that connects muscle to bone and is capable of withstanding tension. Tendons are similar to ...TendonFromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopediaJumptonavigationJumptosearchForotheruses,seeTendon(disambiguation).typeoftissuethatconnectsmuscletoboneTendonTheAchillestendon,oneofthetendonsinthehumanbodyMicrographofapieceoftendon;H&EstainDetailsIdentifiersLatintendoMeSHD013710THH3.03.00.0.00020FMA9721Anatomicalterminology[editonWikidata]Atendonorsinewisatoughbandoffibrousconnectivetissuethatconnectsmuscletoboneandiscapableofwithstandingtension.Tendonsaresimilartoligaments;botharemadeofcollagen.Ligamentsconnectonebonetoanother,whiletendonsconnectmuscletobone.Contents1Structure1.1Extracellularmatrix1.1.1Ultrastructureandcollagensynthesis1.2Tenocytes2Functions2.1Mechanics2.2Healing2.2.1Effectsofactivityonhealing3Societyandculture3.1Culinaryuses4Clinicalsignificance4.1Injury5Otheranimals6Seealso7ReferencesStructure[edit]Histologically,tendonsconsistofdenseregularconnectivetissue.Themaincellularcomponentoftendonsarespecializedfibroblastscalledtenocytes.Tenocytessynthesizetheextracellularmatrixoftendons,abundantindenselypackedcollagenfibers.Thecollagenfibersareparalleltoeachotherandorganizedintofascicles.Individualfasciclesareboundbytheendotendineum,whichisadelicatelooseconnectivetissuecontainingthincollagenfibrils[1][2]andelasticfibres.[3]Groupsoffasciclesareboundedbytheepitenon,whichisasheathofdenseirregularconnectivetissue.Thewholetendonisenclosedbyafascia.Thespacebetweenthefasciaandthetendontissueisfilledwiththeparatenon,afattyareolartissue.[4]NormalhealthytendonsareanchoredtobonebySharpey'sfibres.Extracellularmatrix[edit]Thedrymassofnormaltendons,whichmakesup30-45%oftheirtotalmass,iscomposedof:60-85%collagen60-80%collagenI0-10%collagenIII2%collagenIVsmallamountsofcollagensV,VI,andothers15-40%non-collagenousextracellularmatrixcomponents,including:3%cartilageoligomericmatrixprotein,1-2%elastin,1–5%proteoglycans,0.2%inorga