Remodeling of buccal mucosa by bladder microenvironment.
OBJECTIVE
The optimal cell source for bladder mucosa reconstruction is in question. This study explored the feasibility of phenotype transformation of oral mucosa towards bladder urothelium by transplanting the oral mucosa into bladder local microenvironment.


METHODS
Porcine oral mucosa grafts were transplanted into autologous bladder mucosa defects, and the specific marker expressions of both oral epithelium and bladder urothelium were examined by immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR at 3, 6, and 12 months to detect a potential phenotype transformation.


RESULTS
The grafts could retain the phenotype and structure of oral mucosa within 3 months with positive expression of cytokeratin 14 (CK 14, a specific marker of oral epithelium) and negative expression of uroplakin II (UPII, a urothelium-specific marker). However, after 6 months of transplantation, the grafts expressed UPII at both protein and mRNA levels and the phenotype persisted at 12 months postsurgery. All the grafts continuously retained the positive expression of CK 14 at all time points.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings, for the first time, revealed the transdifferential potential of oral keratinocytes toward urothelial cells and the important role of bladder local microenvironment for remodeling oral mucosa epithelium. These results support the hypothesis that oral keratinocytes can serve as a potential cell source for reconstructing bladder mucosa.
Lu
Mujun
M
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Shanghai 9th People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Tissue Engineering, Shanghai, PR China.
Zhou
Guangdong
G
Liu
Wei
W
Wang
Zhong
Z
Zhu
Yingjian
Y
Yu
Bin
B
Zhang
Wenjie
W
Cao
Yilin
Y
D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006084:Graft Rejection; D006085:Graft Survival; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053547:Keratin-14 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000502:physiology / Q000637:transplantation*; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000379:methods; D012038:Regeneration / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013552:Swine; D013997:Time Factors; D016378:Tissue Transplantation / Q000379:methods; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D060170:Uroplakin II; D019459:Urothelium / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*
D015415:Biomarkers; D053547:Keratin-14; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D060170:Uroplakin II