title: The pericyte as a cellular regulator of penile erection and a novel therapeutic target for erectile dysfunction.
abstract: Pericytes are known to play critical roles in vascular development and homeostasis. However, the distribution of cavernous pericytes and their roles in penile erection is unclear. Herein we report that the pericytes are abundantly distributed in microvessels of the subtunical area and dorsal nerve bundle of mice, followed by dorsal vein and cavernous sinusoids. We further confirmed the presence of pericytes in human corpus cavernosum tissue and successfully isolated pericytes from mouse penis. Cavernous pericyte contents from diabetic mice and tube formation of cultured pericytes in high glucose condition were greatly reduced compared with those in normal conditions. Suppression of pericyte function with anti-PDGFR-β blocking antibody deteriorated erectile function and tube formation in vivo and in vitro diabetic condition. In contrast, enhanced pericyte function with HGF protein restored cavernous pericyte content in diabetic mice, and significantly decreased cavernous permeability in diabetic mice and in pericytes-endothelial cell co-culture system, which induced significant recovery of erectile function. Overall, these findings showed the presence and distribution of pericytes in the penis of normal or pathologic condition and documented their role in the regulation of cavernous permeability and penile erection, which ultimately explore novel therapeutics of erectile dysfunction targeting pericyte function.
authors.affiliation: National Research Center for Sexual Medicine and Department of Urology, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon 400-711, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Guo Nan
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: National Research Center for Sexual Medicine and Department of Urology, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon 400-711, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Nando Dulal
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Das
authors.affiliation: National Research Center for Sexual Medicine and Department of Urology, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon 400-711, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Min Ji
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: National Research Center for Sexual Medicine and Department of Urology, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon 400-711, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Kang-Moon
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: National Research Center for Sexual Medicine and Department of Urology, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon 400-711, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Mi-Hye
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.affiliation: National Research Center for Sexual Medicine and Department of Urology, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon 400-711, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jiyeon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ock
authors.affiliation: National Research Center for Sexual Medicine and Department of Urology, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon 400-711, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Limanjaya
authors.affiliation: National Research Center for Sexual Medicine and Department of Urology, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon 400-711, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Kalyan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ghatak
authors.affiliation: National Research Center for Sexual Medicine and Department of Urology, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon 400-711, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Woo Jean
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Gyeongsang National University School of Medicine, Jinju 660-702, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Seog
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Hyun
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences and Laboratory for Vascular Biology, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Gou Young
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.affiliation: 1] National Research Center for Sexual Medicine and Department of Urology, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon 400-711, Republic of Korea [2] Inha Research Institute for Medical Sciences, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon 400-711, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ji-Kan
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.affiliation: National Research Center for Sexual Medicine and Department of Urology, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon 400-711, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jun-Kyu
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Suh
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000494:pharmacology; D015415:Biomarkers; D002469:Cell Separation; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D007172:Erectile Dysfunction / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D010410:Penile Erection / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D010413:Penis / Q000166:cytology; D020286:Pericytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D010539:Permeability; D020797:Receptor, Platelet-Derived Growth Factor beta / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D015415:Biomarkers; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor; D020797:Receptor, Platelet-Derived Growth Factor beta