Journal: Investigative and Clinical Urology
Article Title: Argonaute 2 restored erectile function and corpus cavernosum mitochondrial function by reducing apoptosis in a mouse model of cavernous nerve injury
doi: 10.4111/icu.20240077
Figure Lengend Snippet: Ago2 overexpression induced nerve regeneration in CNI mice. (A) Immunofluorescence staining for nNOS (green) and NF (red) in DNB from sham, CNI mice after an intracavernous injection with PBS (20 µL), lentiviruses containing ORF negative control particles (NC, 5×10 4 IFU/mice), or lentiviruses containing an ORF mouse clone of Ago2 (Ago2 O/E, 5×10 4 IFU/mice). Nuclei were labeled with DAPI (blue). Scale bar=25 µm. (B, C) Quantification of nNOS and NF immunopositive areas in cavernous tissue was performed using ImageJ software, and results are presented as mean±standard error of mean (SEM) (n=7). *** p<0.001. (D) Representative western blots for Ago2, nNOS, BDNF, and NT-3 in cavernous tissues of mice in the groups mentioned above. β-Actin was used as the internal control. (E-H) Normalized band intensity values were quantified using ImageJ software relative to the sham control. Results are presented as mean±SEM (n=4). * p<0.05; ** p<0.01; *** p<0.001. The relative ratio in the Sham group was defined as 1. CNI, cavernous nerve injury; nNOS, neuronal nitric oxide synthase; NF, neurofilament; DNB, dorsal nerve bundles; PBS, phosphate-buffered saline; ORF, open reading frame; IFU, infectious units; DAPI, 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole; BDNF, brain-derived neurotrophic factor; NT-3, neurotrophin-3; n.s., not significant.
Article Snippet: To investigate the efficacy and mechanism whereby Ago2 restores erectile function in CNI-ED mice, we injected lentiviruses containing open reading frame (ORF) negative control particles (NC, PS100092V; Origene Technologies) or lentiviruses containing an ORF mouse clone of Ago2 (Ago2 O/E, MR227026L3V; Ori-Gene Technologies) into the penises of CNI-induced ED mice at three doses (5×10 3 , 1×10 4 , or 5×10 4 IFU/mouse).
Techniques: Over Expression, Immunofluorescence, Staining, Injection, Negative Control, Labeling, Software, Western Blot, Control, Saline, Derivative Assay