N-Acetyl-L-cysteine facilitates tendon repair and promotes the tenogenic differentiation of tendon stem/progenitor cells by enhancing the integrin α5/β1/PI3K/AKT signaling

N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) is a potent antioxidant. However, how NAC affects the biological functions of tendon stem/progenitor cells (TSPCs) and tendon repair has not been clarified.The effect of NAC on gene transcription in TSPCs was analyzed by transcriptomes and bioinformatics.