Novel biomimetic aggrecan for treatment of urinary incontinence

Stress urinary incontinence plaques 56% of postmenopausal women and is associated with decreased hydration and increased stiffness of the urethral tissue. One of the current treatments involves injecting synthetic bulking agents into the urethra to better fill the lumen. This treatment, however, typically only lasts six months, due to migration of bulking agents out of the urethra. Here we propose to use our recently developed biomimetic proteoglycan, aggrecan, as a novel treatment for urinary incontinence. Biomimetic aggrecan mimics the structure and osmotic properties of natural molecules, is cytocompatible and can interact with collagen fibrils. The injection of biomimetic aggrecan into porcine urethra tissue samples results in stiffness reduction and increased volume of the urethra tissue; synthetic aggrecan molecules also integrated well within the tissue, as indicated by fluorescence imaging results.