Urine-derived stem cells and 3D printing open a new avenue for treating erectile dysfunction after prostate cancer surgery

[Financial News] A new way to treat erectile dysfunction, a common side effect after prostate cancer surgery, has emerged using patients’ urine and 3D-printing technology.
A research team led by Professor Jo Ssang-gu of Konkuk University, in collaboration with teams from Seoul National University College of Medicine and Wonkwang University, announced on the 19th that it had developed a treatment platform combining stem cells obtained from urine with a 3D-printed scaffold to regenerate damaged cavernous nerves and restore erectile function. The findings were published in the international journal Bioactive Materials.
Some 60–70% of patients who undergo prostate cancer surgery experience erectile dysfunction because the cavernous nerves that control erectile function are damaged. If fibrosis, which makes penile tissue stiff, progresses during the 2–4 years it takes for the nerves to recover, it can readily lead to refractory erectile dysfunction that existing treatments cannot address. Existing stem cell injection therapy had the limitation that cells could not remain at the treatment site for long and were washed away.
The research team differentiated stem cells extracted from patients’ urine into neural crest cells that support nerve regeneration, and introduced the nerve growth factor (NGF) gene into them. These cells continuously secrete at least 1,000 times as much nerve growth factor as conventional cells. The team developed a scaffold by 3D-printing a medical-grade biodegradable polymer and coating it with chitosan and hyaluronic acid hydrogel, enabling the cells to attach securely at the site of nerve damage and survive.
When the team applied the cell-loaded scaffold to a mouse model with damaged cavernous nerves, the ratio of maximum intracavernosal pressure to mean arterial pressure, a key indicator of erectile function, recovered to normal levels. The proportion of myelin sheaths surrounding the damaged nerves doubled, while cell death and fibrosis in penile tissue were also suppressed.
The technology offers the advantages of reducing the burden of blood draws or tissue sampling by obtaining cells from urine, and enabling treatment tailored to a patient’s anatomy through 3D printing.
The research team said, “The significance of this study lies in producing neural crest cells suited to peripheral nerve regeneration from an easily accessible cell source—urine—and combining them with a 3D-printed scaffold to confirm the recovery of actual function.” It added, “Even with nerve-sparing surgery, many patients suffer from erectile dysfunction after surgery. We hope this treatment strategy, which regenerates the damaged nerves themselves, will help improve the quality of life of patients after prostate cancer surgery.”  

[email protected] Kim Man-gi Reporter