The aim of this work was to isolate and characterise the glycosaminoglycans present in the different tissue structures of the human penis in view of their potentially significant role in the physiology of erection. Penile tissue samples were obtained from patients who underwent penectomy and were subsequently dissected into individual tissue structures. Total glycosaminoglycans were isolated and purified from tunica albuginea, corpora cavernosa and corpus spongiosum, following tissue mincing, ultrasonication, lipid extraction, extensive digestion with pronase and DNase, treatment with alkali-borohydride and ethanol precipitation. Isolated glycosaminoglycans were separated by cellulose acetate electrophoresis and fractionated by anion exchange chromatography on DEAE Sephacel columns. Different glycosaminoglycan fractions were identified using glycosaminoglycan-degrading enzymes of known specificity. Gradient polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was used to determine the average molecular mass of the glycosaminoglycans. The corpus cavernosum and the corpus spongiosum extracts contained almost twice the amount of glycosaminoglycan-associated uronic acids as compared to the tunical extracts (1.47+/-0.09, and 1.49+/-0.15 as opposed to 0.75+/-0.15 microg/mg dry defatted tissue, respectively; S.E.M., n=5). With the exception of hyaluronic acid, the relative amount of individual glycosaminoglycan types varied significantly among extracts of different origin. Heparan sulphate was more abundant in cavernosal, dermatan sulphate in tunical, and chondroitin-6-sulphate in corpus spongiosum extracts. No structure-specific differences were detected with respect to the molecular mass distribution of each glycosaminoglycan type. Our study shows that the different structures of the human penis produce distinct profiles of glycosaminoglycans, which are well suited to the individual functional characteristics of these structures.