d‐Galactose induces the senescence and phenotype switch of corpus cavernosum smooth muscle cells

Abstract Studies regarding age‐related erectile dysfunction (ED) based on naturally aging models are limited by their high costs, especially for the acquisition of primary cells from the corpus cavernosum. Herein, d ‐galactose ( d ‐gal) was employed to accelerate cell senescence, and the underlying mechanism was explored. As predominant functional cells involved in the erectile response, corpus cavernosum smooth muscle cells (CCSMCs) were isolated from 2‐month‐old rats. Following this, d ‐gal was introduced to induce cell senescence, which was verified via β‐galactosidase staining. The effects of d ‐gal on CCSMCs were evaluated by terminal deoxynucleoitidyl transferase dUTP nick‐end labeling (TUNEL), immunofluorescence staining, flow cytometry, western blot, and quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR). Furthermore, RNA interference (RNAi) was carried out for rescue experiments. Subsequently, the influence of senescence on the corpus cavernosum was determined via scanning electron microscopy, qRT‐PCR, immunohistochemistry, TUNEL, and Masson stainings. The results revealed that the accelerated senescence of CCSMCs was promoted by d ‐gal. Simultaneously, smooth muscle alpha‐actin (alpha‐SMA) expression was inhibited, while that of osteopontin (OPN) and Krüppel‐like factor 4 (KLF4), as well as fibrotic and apoptotic levels, were elevated. After knocking down KLF4 expression in d ‐gal‐induced CCSMCs by RNAi, the expression level of cellular alpha‐SMA increased. Contrastingly, the OPN expression, apoptotic and fibrotic levels declined. In addition, cellular senescence acquired partial remission. Accordingly, in the aged corpus cavernosum, the fibrotic and apoptotic rates were increased, followed by downregulation in the expression of alpha‐SMA and the concurrent upregulation in the expression of OPN and KLF4. Overall, our results signaled that d ‐gal‐induced accelerated senescence of CCSMCs could trigger fibrosis, apoptosis and phenotypic switch to the synthetic state, potentially attributed to the upregulation of KLF4 expression, which may be a multipotential therapeutic target of age‐related ED.