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We retrospectively evaluated the clinical outcome of penile prosthesis implantation (PPI) in Chinese patients with severe erectile dysfunction (SED). From July 2000 to December 2011, 224 patients (mean age: 35.9±11.8 years, range: 20-75 years) with SED underwent PPI by experienced surgeon according to standard PPI procedure at our centre. A malleable prosthesis (AMS 650) was implanted in 45 cases (20.1%), and a three-piece inflatable prosthesis (AMS 700 CXM or AMS 700 CXR) was implanted in 179 cases (79.9%). Surgical outcomes, including postoperative complications, clinical efficacy and couple satisfaction, were evaluated over than 6 months postoperatively using medical record abstraction, IIEF-5, quality of life (QoL) scores, and the patient/partner sexual satisfaction score proposed by Bhojwani et al. Of the 224 patients eligible for the study, 201 subjects (89.7%) completed follow-up. All of patients could perform sexual intercourse post PPI with the mean postoperative IIEF-5 and QoL scores were 20.02±2.32 and 5.28±0.76, respectively, which were significantly improved compared with the preoperative scores (6.29±1.5 and 2.13±0.84, P

Early observations that cultured mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) could be induced to exhibit certain characteristics of osteocytes and chondrocytes led to the proposal that they could be transplanted for tissue repair through cellular differentiation. Therefore, many subsequent preclinical studies with transplanted MSCs have strived to demonstrate that cellular differentiation was the underlying mechanism for the therapeutic effect. These studies generally followed the minimal criteria set by The International Society for Cellular Therapy in assuring MSC identity by using CD70, CD90, and CD105 as positive markers and CD34 as a negative marker. However, the three positive markers are co-expressed in a wide variety of cells, and therefore, even when used in combination, they are certainly incapable of identifying MSCs in vivo. Another frequently used MSC marker, Stro-1, has been shown to be an endothelial antigen and whether it can identify MSCs in vivo remains unknown. On the other hand, the proposed negative marker CD34 has increasingly been shown to be expressed in native MSCs, such as in the adipose tissue. It has also helped establish that MSCs are likely vascular stem cells (VSCs) that reside in the capillaries and in the adventitia of larger blood vessels. These cells do not express CD31, CD104b, or α-SMA, and therefore are designated as CD34+CD31-CD140b-SMA-. Many preclinical MSC transplantation studies have also attempted to demonstrate cellular differentiation by using labeled MSCs. However, all commonly used labels have shortcomings that often complicate data interpretation. The β-gal (LacZ) gene as a label is problematic because many mammalian tissues have endogenous β-gal activities. The GFP gene is similarly problematic because many mammalian tissues are endogenously fluorescent. The cell membrane label DiI can be adsorbed by host cells, and nuclear stains Hoechst dyes and DAPI can be transferred to host cells. Thymidine analog BrdU is associated with loss of cellular protein antigenicity due to harsh histological conditions. Newer thymidine analog EdU is easier to detect by chemical reaction to azide-conjugated Alexa fluors, but certain bone marrow cells are reactive to these fluors in the absence of EdU. These caveats need to be taken into consideration when designing or interpreting MSC transplantation experiments.

Testicular endothelial cells have been found to play an important role in spermatogenesis and fertility, but their mechanism is obscure. Exosomes released by various cells are recognized as cell–cell communication mediators during the initiation and progression of many diseases. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the protein and miRNA components of human testicular endothelial cell-derived exosomes (HTEC-Exos) and to explore their potential effects on spermatogenesis. In this study, HTEC-Exos were first isolated by the ultracentrifugation method, and then identified by nanoparticle tracking analysis, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and western blotting. The characteristics of HTEC-Exos were examined by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry and microRNA (miRNA) chip analysis. Bioinformatics analysis was performed to explore the potential role of the exosomal content on spermatogenesis. A total of 945 proteins were identified, 11 of which were closely related to spermatogenesis. A total of 2578 miRNAs were identified. Among them, 30 miRNAs demonstrated potential associations with male reproductive disorders, such as azoospermia, and spermatogenesis disorders. In particular, 11 out of these 30 miRNAs have been proven to be involved in spermatogenesis based on available evidence. This study provides a global view of the proteins and miRNAs from HTEC-Exos, suggesting that HTEC-Exos may function as potential effectors during the process of spermatogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to compare the effects of bilateral cavernous nerve crushing (BCNC) and bilateral cavernous nerve resection (BCNR) on intracavernous pressure (ICP) and cavernous pathology in rats and to explore the optimal treatment time for the BCNC and BCNR models. Seventy-two male rats aged 12 weeks were randomly divided into three equal groups: Sham (both cavernous nerves exposed only), BCNC (BCN crushed for 2 min), and BCNR (5 mm of BCN resected). Erectile function was then measured at 1 week, 3 weeks, and 5 weeks after nerve injury, and penile tissues were harvested for histological and molecular analyses by immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, Western blot, and cytokine array. We found that erectile function parameters including the maximum, area, and slope of ICP/mean arterial pressure (MAP) significantly decreased after BCNR and BCNC at 1 week and 3 weeks. At 5 weeks, no significant differences were observed in ICP/MAP between the BCNC and Sham groups, whereas the ICP/MAP of the BCNR group remained significantly lower than that of the Sham group. After BCNC and BCNR, the amount of neuronal-nitric oxide synthase-positive fibers, smooth muscle cells, and endothelial cells decreased, whereas the amount of collagen III content increased. These pathological changes recovered over time, especially in the BCNC group. Our findings demonstrate that BCNC leads to acute and reversible erectile dysfunction, thus treatment time should be restricted to the first 3 weeks post-BCNC. In contrast, the self-healing ability of the BCNR model is poor, making it more suitable for long-term treatment research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]