Scaffolds for reconstruction of penile corporal tissue

Scaffold-based tissue engineering (TE) of corporal tissue is a new development in otherwise untreatable erectile dysfunction and for penile or urethral reconstruction. Multiple complications may occur with the current treatments, whereas engineered tissue, if well vascularized and existing of autologous cells, may lead to better results. The aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of recent literature on scaffolds used in TE of penile corporal tissue.

Both synthetic and biological scaffolds have been used. The advantage of a biological, acellular scaffold was that the native, complex architecture of corporal tissue was maintained. Most studies used endothelial and smooth muscle cells from corporal origin, but stem cells were also investigated. Furthermore, dynamic culturing achieved an improved cell content and functionality.

In conclusion, this chapter has summarized the developments in scaffold-based TE of corpus cavernosum and spongiosum tissue. Functional tissue has been developed in animal studies with the use of seeded cells on scaffolds. This knowledge will form a basis for the development of TE of corporal tissue for clinical applications.