A soft wireless bioelectronic patch for noninvasive modulation of cavernosal microenvironment in diabetic erectile dysfunction
Diabetes mellitus-induced erectile dysfunction is difficult to reverse due to long-term impairment of cavernosal microenvironment. Conventional oral or intracavernosal injection therapies suffer from poor targeting, uneven drug distribution, and potential complications. Here, we propose a soft, wireless electronic patch for treating erectile dysfunction (SWEED) in diabetes mellitus, which enables safe, noninvasive, and controllable modulation of penile microenvironment. With its "microelectrode-drug reservoir-nanopore" configuration, SWE intensifies local electrical field nanoscopically and achieves uniform transdermal drug delivery. Through the enhanced local delivery of prostaglandin E1 (PGE1), SWEED demonstrates high efficiency in promoting the expression of vascular factors for endothelial repair and enhancing cavernosal blood perfusion. In both in vitro and in vivo settings, the platform achieves vascular regeneration and functional recovery comparable to clinical intracavernosal injection therapy. Moreover, it activates proerectile signaling pathways (EP2/PKA/CREB) and suppresses the TGF-β/Smad pathway, markedly alleviating cavernosal fibrosis. This work presents a paradigm for noninvasive diabetes mellitus-induced erectile dysfunction therapy.
Authors
- Wenhao Tang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6591-6584)
- Yanli Jiao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4786-9577)
- Yangyi Fang
- Tiangang Song
- Dedong Yin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5556-9293)
- Zaizai Dong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1398-1699)
- Xinran Jiang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-6761-4071)
- Kai Hong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4872-1782)
- Lingqian Chang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6329-9850)
- Han Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-9318-4436)
- Yihang Tong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-1055-5333)
- Mengqing Yan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8711-8786)
- Xing Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7084-3052)
- Junwei Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4493-3817)
- Feng Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9560-8518)
- Yan Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-8782-8843)
- Kuan Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-9804-586X)
- Haocheng Lin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5333-6611)
- Qianxi Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-2058-7677)
- Zhongjie Zheng
- Dongyu Chen
- Yuqiong Wang
Institutions
- City University of Hong Kong (HK)
- Nanyang Technological University (SG)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- National Health and Family Planning Commission (CN)
- Peking University Third Hospital (CN)
- Institute of Zoology (CN)
- Beihang University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science Advances
- Published
- 2026-10-30
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aef4772
- Primary Topic
- Sexual function and dysfunction studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province
- National Key Research and Development Program of China
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
- National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars