MicroRNA-148a-3p in pericyte-derived extracellular vesicles improves erectile function in diabetic mice by promoting cavernous neurovascular regeneration

Purpose: To investigate the regulatory role of microRNA (miR)-148a-3p in mouse corpus cavernous pericyte (MCPs)-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) in the treatment of diabetes-induced erectile dysfunction (ED). Materials and Methods: Mouse corpus cavernous tissue was used for MCPs primary culture and EVs isolation. Small RNA sequencing analysis was performed to assess the type and content of miRs in MCPs-EVs. Four groups of mice were used: control nondiabetic mice and streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice receiving two intracavernous injections (days -3 and 0) of phosphate buffered saline, MCPs-EVs transfected with regent control, or MCPs-EVs transfected with miR-148a-3p inhibitor. The function of miR-148a-3p in MCPs-EVs was evaluated by tube formation assay, migration assay, TUNEL assay, intracavernous pressure, immunofluorescence staining, and western blot experiments. Results: We extracted EVs from MCPs and by small RNA sequencing analysis we found that miR-148a-3p is enriched in MCPs-EVs. Exogenous administration of MCPs-EVs can effectively promote mouse cavernous endothelial cell (MCECs) tube formation, migration, proliferation, and reduce MCECs apoptosis under high-glucose conditions. However, these effects are significantly attenuated in miR-148a-3p-depleted MCPs-EVs, which is extracted after inhibiting miR-148a-3p expression in MCPs. Repeated intracavernous injections of MCPs-EVs improves erectile function by inducing cavernous neurovascular regeneration in diabetic mice. Through online bioinformatics databases and luciferase report assays, we predict Pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase-4 (PDK4) is a potential target gene of miR-148a-3p. Conclusions: Our findings provide new and reliable evidence that miR-148a-3p in MCPs-EVs significantly enhances cavernous neurovascular regeneration by inhibiting PDK4 in diabetic mice. Overall design: MCPs-derived EVs (MCPs-EVs) were isolated from MCPs cultured medium by using a Commercials EV isolation kit (ExoQuick-TC, System Biosciences, LLC., Palo Alto, CA, USA) following manufacturers' instructions.