Introduction
pain
DEGENERATIVE CHANGE, PROLIFERATIVE
Dense connective tissues (DCTs) provide a matrix, which support and protect other tissues and organs in the human body, as well as acting as force transmitters in the musculoskeletal system. The healing process after an injury to DCTs such as tendon, ligament and meniscus, however, often leads to compromised healing with degenerative changes, pain and considerable individual variation in long-term clinical outcome. Comprehensive knowledge of the regulatory mechanisms responsible for the variation in outcomes in relation to specific biomarkers of DCT healing is still lacking (In previous studies, evidence was presented for a central role for Complement factor D (CFD) in tendon healing and showed that CFD has prognostic efficacy for long-term clinical patient outcome after tendon injury (Healing is a complex process including three overlapping stages, inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling (In this study, we aimed to characterize the association between CFD and human tendon repair during both the inflammatory- and proliferative stages of healing by combining two quantitative mass spectrometry (QMS)-based proteomic profiles with a validated clinical outcome database. Additionally, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between CFD and Col1a1 expression during the inflammatory- and proliferative phases of healing based on available human tissue samples and further explored the detailed mechanisms using 