The Therapeutic Role of VEGF-Expressing Muscle-Derived Stem Cells in Acute Penile Cavernosal Injury

摘要

Introduction. Traumatic penile injury is one of the urological emergencies. Surgery and conservative management are major treatment methods but are always accompanied by many complications. Aim. To investigate the feasibility of repairing cavernous tissues in acute rabbit penile cavernosal injury model with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-expressing muscle-derived stem cells (MDSCs). Methods. MDSCs were isolated and transfected with hVEGF 165 lentiviral gene vector in vitro. The expression of VEGF was confirmed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), Western blot, and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analyses. After animal models were constructed, animals were randomly divided into four groups, which were administrated with MDSCs/VEGF, MDSCs/vector, MDSCs, and normal saline, respectively. A month later, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and intracavernosal pressures (ICP) were performed on the animals. Then penile tissues were harvested and assayed with Western blot and immunohistochemistry. Main Outcome Measures. Real-time PCR, Western blot, ELISA, immunohistochemistry, MRI, and ICP were performed in our experiments. Results. The expression of VEGF significantly increased in the VEGF-expressing MDSCs group compared with those in the MDSCs/vector and MDSCs groups. VEGF protein expression in the injury sites of cavernous tissues were significantly higher in the MDSCs/VEGF group compared with those in other three groups. Immunohistochemical staining showed that α-smooth muscle actin-positive cells, von Willebrand factor-positive cells and capillary density markedly increased in the MDSCs/VEGF group. Animals receiving MDSCs/VEGF showed a significant improvement in cavernosal contractile function and structural repair. Conclusions. The transplantation of VEGF-expressing MDSCs could repair the actuely injured cavernous tissue. We believed that it could be a novel therapeutic strategy for acute rabbit penile cavernosal injury.