Research Article

Inhibition of YAP1 Rescues Erectile Dysfunction by Inhibiting Phenotypic Modulation through Myocardin in Diabetic Rats

Figure 5

Inhibition of YAP1 rescued erectile dysfunction in diabetic rats. (a) Representative intracavernosal pressure (ICP) and (b) statistics of the ICP/mean arterial pressure (MAP) ratio. Transfection of lenti-shYAP1 or Ad-myocardin markedly enhanced the maximum ICP and the ICP/MAP ratio, but these values were still lower than those in the NC group. Moreover, no statistical variation between the shYAP1 and myocardin groups was detected. (c) H&E and Masson’s trichrome staining showed a discontinuous endothelium and thinner smooth muscle layer in all diabetic rat groups, while lenti-shYAP1 and Ad-myocardin transfection significantly repaired the disordered structures. Moreover, compared with DMED + PBS, both the shYAP1 and myocardin treatments significantly increased the smooth muscle (SM)/collagen (COL) ratio (d). Original magnification: 200x .
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