title: Identification of potential bladder progenitor cells in the trigone.
abstract: Urothelial cells are specialized epithelial cells in the bladder that serve as a barrier toward excreted urine. The urothelium consists of superficial cells (most differentiated cells), intermediate cells, and basal cells; the latter have been considered as urothelium progenitor cells. In this study, BrdU or EdU was administrated to pregnant mice during E8-E13 for 2 consecutive days when bladder development occurs. The presence of label retaining cells was investigated in bladders from offspring. In 6 months old mice ~1% of bladder cells retained labeling. Stem cell markers as defined for other tissues (e.g., p63, CD44, CD117, trop2) co-localized or were in close vicinity to label retaining cells, but they were not uniquely limited to these cells. Remarkably, label retaining cells were distributed in all three cell layers (p63+, CK7+, and CK20+) of the urothelium and concentrated in the bladder trigone. This study demonstrates that bladder progenitor cells are present in all cell layers and reside mostly in the trigone. Understanding the geographic location of slow cycling cells provides crucial information for tissue regenerative purposes in the future.
authors.affiliation: Radboud University Medical Center, Department of Urology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Experimental Urology 267, Geert Grooteplein 10, 6525GA Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: Wei-Lun.Sun@radboudumc.nl.
authors.forename: Weilun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Radboud University Medical Center, Department of Urology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Experimental Urology 267, Geert Grooteplein 10, 6525GA Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: Tilly.Aalders@radboudumc.nl.
authors.forename: Tilly
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wilhelmina Aalders
authors.affiliation: Radboud University Medical Center, Department of Urology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Experimental Urology 267, Geert Grooteplein 10, 6525GA Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: Egbert.Oosterwijk@radboudumc.nl.
authors.forename: Egbert
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Oosterwijk
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001973:Bromodeoxyuridine / Q000737:chemistry; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D003857:Deoxyuridine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D051379:Mice; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D001743:Urinary Bladder / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology*; D019459:Urothelium / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology*
chemical_list: D001973:Bromodeoxyuridine; C031086:5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine; D003857:Deoxyuridine
keywords: Bladder progenitor cells; Bladder trigone; Label retaining cells