Cell signaling in interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome.
Evidence for several types of cell signaling abnormalities has been presented for patients with interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome (IC/PBS), a poorly understood chronic painful bladder disorder for which currently there is no reliable effective therapy. Increases or decreases in various urine cytokines and growth factors have been found in patient specimens, along with abnormal expression of epithelial differentiation markers, growth factors, cell membrane proteins, neurotransmitters, and other cytokines in tissue biopsies and/or explanted bladder cells from IC/PBS patients. Some of the abnormalities found in bladder epithelial cells from IC/PBS patients have been shown to be induced in normal cells by an antiproliferative factor from IC/PBS bladder epithelial cells that binds to a functional cell membrane receptor (CKAP4/p63). Greater understanding of cell signaling events associated with this debilitating disorder may lead to the development of more effective therapies.
Keay
Susan
S
Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine and Veterans Administration Maryland Health Care System, Baltimore, Maryland, United States. skeay@medicine.umaryland.edu
D018856:Cystitis, Interstitial / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000235:genetics; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000378:metabolism; D066257:Heparin-binding EGF-like Growth Factor; D006801:Humans; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009130:Muscle, Smooth / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction
D006023:Glycoproteins; C587883:HBEGF protein, human; D066257:Heparin-binding EGF-like Growth Factor; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents; C490708:antiproliferative factor APF, human