Disruption of the anterior cruciate ligament is one of the most common injuries among the population, particularly in athletes, with over 200,000 diagnoses per year. The healing process can be slow and often results in a ligament architecture that is significantly different from uninjured tissue. As a result of this impaired structure, the healed ligament is neither as robust nor as capable of performing normal functions. Current surgical treatments to reduce these deficiencies include the use of autografts, allografts and synthetics, which each have their own disadvantages. Nonetheless, a major factor in the failure of all of these treatments is the biomechanical mismatch in the native tissue and the graft. The distinctive, highly organized extracellular matrix (ECM) of native ligament tissue is the source of its mechanical strength as well as a source of cytokines that are integral in the remodeling of injured ligament. We postulate that an engineered ligament tissue – consisting of a mature, ligament-like ECM – can be generated by the culture of progenitor cells under a combination of mechanical stimulus and growth factors, and will improve healing and regeneration of injured ligament tissue in vivo. As a first step, bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) were cultured on silicon elastomer membranes and exposed to cyclic stretch of controlled duration, frequency, and strain magnitude. Concurrently, growth factors TGF-β1 and FGF-2 were added exogenously to enhance development of a ligament-like ECM. Cell morphology and deposition of an oriented collagen-rich matrix were determined immunohistochemically, and expression of ECM components, including collagen type I and decorin, were determined by quantitative PCR. In the next step, the silicon elastomer membrane will be replaced with a degradable biocompatible elastomeric scaffold to permit translation into an animal model.