Decreased expression of promotes apoptosis through the Hippo-YAP1 signaling pathway leading to diabetic erectile dysfunction.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) primarily engage with mRNA, DNA, proteins, and microRNAs (miRNAs), thereby regulating gene expression; however, its specific role in diabetic erectile dysfunction (DED) has not been studied. This study aims to investigate the effects and mechanisms of in DED. The differential target gene was identified in the penile tissues of rats with DED through bioinformatics analyses.

Cytoskeletal protein SPTA1 mediating the decrease in erectile function induced by high-fat diet via Hippo signaling pathway.

Background: The mechanism of high-fat diet (HFD)-induced decrease in erectile function has not been elucidated, and in previous studies, spectrin alpha, erythrocytic 1 (SPTA1) is a cytoskeletal protein that regulates cellular function, which belongs to a family of proteins that can affect cell and tissue growth and development by regulating YAP, an effector on the Hippo signaling pathway, but its particular role has not been elucidated.

Objective: To explore the role of SPTA1 in the abnormality of erectile function induced by HFD.

Methods: We analyzed the penile tissues of mice on normal diet and HFD by transcriptomics and screened for differentially expressed genes, further identified closely related target genes in rat penile tissues, and verified target gene expression in in vitro construction of high-glucose (HG)-treated corpus cavernosum endothelial cells (CCECs) and corpus cavernosum smooth muscle cells (CCSMCs) models.