Figure 4: Cavernous eNOS phosphorylation is induced by combination therapy with SVF and Ad-COMP-Ang1 gene in STZ-induced diabetic mice. (a) CD31 (green) and phospho-eNOS (p-eNOS, red) staining in cavernous tissue from age-matched control mice (C) group and STZ-induced diabetic mice stimulated at 4 weeks after intracavernous injection of PBS (P, 20 μl), ad-LacZ (L, 2 × 10⁸ particles per 20 μl), SVF (S, 1 × 10⁵ cells per 20 μl), Ad-COMP-Ang1 (CA, 2 × 10⁸ particles per 20 μl), or combination (S + CA). Nuclei were labeled with DAPI (blue). Scale bars = 100 μm. (b) Representative western blots for (c) relative ratio phospho-eNOS (and eNOS in the mouse penis compared with that of β-actin. Each bar depicts the mean value ± standard deviation from n = 4 animals per group. ^*P < 0.001, P or L versus C group. ^#P < 0.05, S or CA versus P or L groups. ^†P < 0.01, S + CA versus S or CA groups. (d) Quantification of the phospho-eNOS immunopositive area in cavernous tissue by ImageJ. Each bar depicts the mean values ± standard deviations from n = 5 animals per group. ^*P < 0.001, P or L versus C group. ^#P < 0.05, CA versus P or L groups. ^†P < 0.001, S + CA versus S or CA groups. The P values were determined by one-way ANOVA. Ad-COMP-Ang1: adenovirus-mediated cartilage oligomeric matrix angiopoietin-1; DAPI: 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole; PBS: phosphate-buffered saline; STZ: streptozotocin; SVF: stromal vascular fraction; eNOS: endothelial nitric oxide synthase.