Table 4.

Examples of scaffold biomaterials in tendon tissue engineering.

Source	Biomaterial	Advantages	Disadvantages	Ref.
Natural	Collagen	Biocompatibility Biodegradability Main component of tendon ECM	Poor mechanical strength Fast degradation	[21,122,173,174]
	Silk	Flexibility Excellent tensile strength High processability	Limited cell adhesion Difficult to manage molecular weight Slow degradation rate	[175,176,177]
	Spider silk	Superior strainability Excellent mechanical properties Biodegradability Biocompatibility	Limited natural production Hardening easily when exposed to air	[123,178,179]
	Chitosan	Antibacterial Antioxidant	Low mechanical properties	[180]
	Alginate	Biocompatibility High processability Low cost	Low mechanical properties Limited cell adhesion	[128]
	Hyaluronic acid	Lubricant Less adhesion Low inflammatory Direct injection	Low mechanical properties Fast degradation with natural form	[181,182,183]
	Agarose	Reversibility Excellent mechanical properties	Less studies related to tendons	[184,185]
	Cellulose	High plasticity Biocompatibility Excellent mechanical strength 3D structure	Low mechanical strength Hard to degrade in vivo ∙	[186,187]
	SIS	Rich nutrients	Rapid degradation Poor mechanical properties	[188]
	Amniotic membrane	Rich nutrients Biocompatibility Biodegradability Antibacterial Antifibrotic Low inflammatory	Difficult to store for a long time Low mechanical strength Easily torn	[189,190,191]
	DTM	Biocompatibility Biodegradability Low immunogenicity Structure close to natural tendons	Influenced by sources Low purification	[126,127,192,193,194,195,196]
Synthetic	PGA	Biocompatibility No toxic products	Rapid degradation	[197]
	PLA/PLLA	Excellent mechanical properties Biodegradability Biocompatibility Low inflammatory, immunogenicity, and cytotoxic reactions	Low degradation High brittleness	[124,125,198]
	PLGA	Biocompatibility Biodegradability Excellent mechanical properties	Poor hydrophilicity Poor absorption	[199,200]
	PCL	Biocompatibility Biodegradability Excellent tensile strength Excellent surface area and porosity	Hydrophobicity Less bioactive functional groups Poor attachment and proliferation of cells	[201,202,203,204]