A conditional transgenic mouse of Tet-on driven TNMD overexpression was generated. This model was used to compare tenogenic differentiation potential among different cell types. Dox induced TNMD overexpression promotes cell proliferation and tenogenic differentiation. BMSCs exhibited the best tenogenic potential, whereas ASCs and DFs revealed similar potentials. TNMD overexpression inhibited multi-lineage differentiation of MSCs.