Treatment of diabetes mellitus-induced erectile dysfunction using endothelial progenitor cells genetically modified with human telomerase reverse transcriptase.
The efficacy of treatments for diabetes mellitus-induced erectile dysfunction (DMED) is quite poor, and stem cell therapy is emerging as a useful method. In this study, we used endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) overexpressing human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) for the treatment of DMED. Rat EPCs were transfected with hTERT (EPCs-hTERT). EPCs-hTERT secreted more growth factors and demonstrated enhanced proliferation and resistance to oxidative stress. Twenty-four male DMED rats were subjected to four treatments: DMED (DMED group), EPCs (EPCs group), EPCs transduced with control lentivirus (EPC-control group) and EPCs-hTERT (EPCs-hTERT group). A group of healthy rats were used as the normal control group. The erectile function in the EPCs-hTERT group was markedly increased compared with the EPCs and EPCs-control groups. The EPCs-hTERT group exhibited more growth factors, smooth muscle content and retained stem cells in penile tissues. The degree of apoptosis and collagen/smooth muscle ratio in penile tissues of the EPCs-hTERT group was considerably reduced. Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) expression increased significantly in the EPCs-hTERT group. Taken together, these data showed that the enhanced paracrine effect, resistance to oxidative stress and proliferation of EPCs-hTERT may contribute to the improvements of erectile function in DMED rats.
Institute of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.|Department of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Yan
Y
Zhang
Department of Gerontology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Zhi
Z
Chen
Institute of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.|Department of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Tao
T
Wang
Institute of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.|Department of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Jun
J
Yang
Institute of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.|Department of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Rui
R
Li
Institute of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.|Department of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Shaogang
S
Wang
Institute of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.|Department of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Jihong
J
Liu
Institute of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.|Department of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Zhangqun
Z
Ye
D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D003094:Collagen / Q000737:chemistry; D048909:Diabetes Complications / Q000150:complications*; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000628:therapy; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D066026:Endothelial Progenitor Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D007172:Erectile Dysfunction / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D016086:Lentivirus; D008297:Male; D009130:Muscle, Smooth / Q000378:metabolism; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III / Q000378:metabolism; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D051381:Rats; D019098:Telomerase / Q000235:genetics*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D003094:Collagen; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III; C496316:Nos3 protein, rat; C509186:TERT protein, human; D019098:Telomerase
Pathology Section; diabetes mellitus; endothelial progenitor cells; erectile dysfunction; human telomerase reverse transcriptase; paracrine