[Constructing tissue-engineered urothelial structures in vitro and in vivo].
OBJECTIVE
To develop a method for reconstructing urothelial structures using tissue engineering techniques.


METHODS
The bladder mucosa of a puppy dog was mechanically separated, cutted into pieces, and digested with trypsin. The obtained bladder transitional epithelia were cultured with DKSFM and then transplanted to the surface of the small intestinal submucosa (SIS) framework. The compound of the epithelia and small intestinal submucosa (SIS) materials were planted under the back skin of the nude rats. The rats were sacrificed at week 1, 2, 4 and 8 after the transplant. Histological and immunohistochemical examinations were performed to the implanted samples.


RESULTS
The bladder transitional epithelia adhered to, and grew and proliferated on the surface of the SIS framework. The bladder transitional epithelia covered the entire surface of the framework after nine days of culture in vitro, showing a single-layer cellular structure. The bladder transitional epithelia planted on the SIS framework formed a multi-layer structure after four weeks or eight weeks of transplant to the nude rats. The brown cellular plasma staining was observed, indicating a positive reaction to the immunohistochemical staining with cytokeratin.


CONCLUSIONS
Urothelial structures can be reconstructed in vitro and in vivo with tissue engineering technologies, which lays a technical foundation for further urinary tract reconstructing experiments.
Division of Stem Cell and Tissue Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
Ping
P
Han
Jing-Cong
JC
Luo
Wei
W
Zhi
Bo
B
Tan
Xiu-Qun
XQ
Li
Zhi-Ming
ZM
Yang
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004285:Dogs; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000637:transplantation; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000737:chemistry / Q000601:surgery / Q000637:transplantation; D007633:Keratins / Q000032:analysis; D009092:Mucous Membrane / Q000166:cytology*; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D011923:Rats, Nude; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous; D001743:Urinary Bladder / Q000166:cytology*
D007633:Keratins