Senescent Cells Impair Erectile Function through Induction of Endothelial Dysfunction and Nerve Injury in Mice

PLoS One. 2015 Apr 20;10(4):e0124129. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0124129. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a major health problem, particularly in the elderly population, which is rapidly increasing. It is necessary to elucidate the mechanism by which ED occurs in the elderly. Cellular senescence is commonly detected in old tissues, and it is well known that senescent cells not only withdraw from the cell cycle but also remain viable and actively produce a variety of cytokines. We examined the effect of senescent cells on erectile function after injection of senescent cells into the penises of mice. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells were infected with an adenovirus expressing a constitutively active mutant of Ras to induce senescence, and were injected into the penises of nude mice. These senescent cells expressed proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1β (IL-1β). Injection of senescent cells impaired erectile function, as assessed by the measurement of intracavernous pressure. Although the structure of the cavernous body did not remarkably change, expression of the catalytically active form of endothelial nitric oxide synthase and that of total neural nitric oxide synthase significantly decreased after injection. The penises injected with the senescent cells expressed human IL-1β and subsequently endogenous proinflammatory cytokines such as mouse IL-1β and tumor necrosis factor-α. These results suggested that senescent cells impaired erectile function through induction of endothelial dysfunction and nerve injury. These effects may be mediated by proinflammatory cytokines produced by senescent cells.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cellular Senescence*
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Endothelium, Vascular / pathology*
  • Erectile Dysfunction / therapy*
  • Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells
  • Humans
  • Inflammation / metabolism
  • Interleukin-1beta / metabolism
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mice, Nude
  • Nervous System / pathology
  • Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I / metabolism
  • Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III / metabolism
  • Penile Erection / physiology
  • Penis / physiopathology
  • Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / metabolism

Substances

  • Interleukin-1beta
  • Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
  • Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I
  • Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III

Grants and funding

This work was funded by Grants-in-Aid from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan to AN 24592422 [http://www.jsps.go.jp]; and to HN 24592423 from Grants-in-Aid from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan; [http://www.jsps.go.jp]. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.