Injection of urethral bulking agents is a low-risk, minimally invasive surgical procedure to treat stress urinary incontinence (SUI). In this study, we developed a promising injectable bulking agent comprising extracellular matrix fragments of adipose-derived stem cell sheets (ADSC ECM) and investigated its effectiveness in urethral bulking therapy. The structural integrity and proteins of ADSC sheet ECM were well retained in decellularized ADSC ECM fragments. To locate transplanted ADSC ECM fragments, they were labeled with ultrasmall super-paramagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, which enabled in vivo monitoring after implantation in a SUI rat model for up to 4 weeks. When ADSC ECM fragments were injected into the rat urethra, they became fully integrated with the surrounding tissue within 1 week. Four weeks after transplantation, host cells had regenerated within the ADSC ECM fragment injection area. Moreover, new smooth muscle tissue had formed around the ADSC ECM fragments, as confirmed by positive staining of myosin. These results indicate that injection of ECM fragments may be a promising minimally invasive approach for treating SUI.
Acta biomaterialia. 2020 Oct 06 [Epub ahead of print]
Ying Wang, Meng Duan, Mahbubur Rahman, Ming Yang, Weixin Zhao, Shukui Zhou, Guo Gao, Qiang Fu
Department of Urology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, Shanghai Eastern Institute of Urologic Reconstruction, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200233, China., Department of Instrument Science and Engineering, School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China., Department of General Educational Development, Faculty of Science and Information Technology, Daffodil International University, Dhaka 1207, Bangladesh., Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157, USA., Department of Urology, Sichuan Cancer Hospital & Institute, Sichuan Cancer Center, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610041, China. Electronic address: ., Department of Instrument Science and Engineering, School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China. Electronic address: ., Department of Urology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, Shanghai Eastern Institute of Urologic Reconstruction, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200233, China. Electronic address: .