ISSN: 1449-2288International Journal of Biological Sciences
Global reach, higher impact
Int J Biol Sci 2022; 18(9):3653-3667. doi:10.7150/ijbs.72243 This issue Cite
Research Paper
Pericyte-derived extracellular vesicle-mimetic nanovesicles ameliorate erectile dysfunction via lipocalin 2 in diabetic mice
1. National Research Center for Sexual Medicine and Department of Urology, Inha University College of Medicine, Incheon, 22332, Republic of Korea
2. Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, and Program in Biomedical Science & Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 22332, Republic of Korea
3. Department of Pharmacology and Medicinal Toxicology Research Center, Inha University College of Medicine, Incheon 22332, Republic of Korea
4. Department of Life Sciences, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, Kyeongsangbuk-do 37673, Korea
*These authors contributed equally to this work.
Abstract
Diabetes mellitus is one of the main causes of erectile dysfunction (ED). Men with diabetic ED do not respond well to oral phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors owing to neurovascular dysfunction. Pericyte-derived extracellular vesicle-mimetic nanovesicles (PC-NVs) are known to promote nerve regeneration in a mouse model of cavernous nerve injury. Here, we report that administration of PC-NVs effectively promoted penile angiogenesis and neural regeneration under diabetic conditions, thereby improving erectile function. Specifically, PC-NVs induced endothelial proliferation and migration and reduced cell apoptosis under diabetic conditions. In addition, PC-NVs induced neural regeneration in STZ-induced diabetic mice in dorsal root ganglion and major pelvic ganglion explants in vivo and ex vivo under high-glucose conditions. We found that lipocalin 2 (Lcn2) is a new target of PC-NVs in this process, demonstrating that PC-NVs exert their angiogenic and nerve-regeneration effects by activating MAP kinase and PI3K/Akt and suppressing P53 signaling pathway in an Lcn2-dependent manner. Our findings provide new conclusive evidence that PC-NVs can promote neurovascular regeneration and recovery of erectile function under diabetic conditions via an Lcn2-dependent mechanism. Thus, local administration of PC-NVs may be a promising treatment strategy for the treatment of diabetic ED.
Keywords: Pericyte, Nanovesicles, Lipocalin2, Neurovascular regeneration, Diabetes mellitus, Erectile dysfunction
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