title: In Vitro Evaluation of Spider Silk Meshes as a Potential Biomaterial for Bladder Reconstruction.
abstract: Reconstruction of the bladder by means of both natural and synthetic materials remains a challenge due to severe adverse effects such as mechanical failure. Here we investigate the application of spider major ampullate gland-derived dragline silk from the Nephila edulis spider, a natural biomaterial with outstanding mechanical properties and a slow degradation rate, as a potential scaffold for bladder reconstruction by studying the cellular response of primary bladder cells to this biomaterial. We demonstrate that spider silk without any additional biological coating supports adhesion and growth of primary human urothelial cells (HUCs), which are multipotent bladder cells able to differentiate into the various epithelial layers of the bladder. HUCs cultured on spider silk did not show significant changes in the expression of various epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and fibrosis associated genes, and demonstrated only slight reduction in the expression of adhesion and cellular differentiation genes. Furthermore, flow cytometric analysis showed that most of the silk-exposed HUCs maintain an undifferentiated immunophenotype. These results demonstrate that spider silk from the Nephila edulis spider supports adhesion, survival and growth of HUCs without significantly altering their cellular properties making this type of material a suitable candidate for being tested in pre-clinical models for bladder reconstruction.
authors.affiliation: University Medical Center Utrecht, Wilhelmina Children's Hospital, Division of Pediatrics, Utrecht, The Netherlands.|University Medical Center Utrecht, Department of Cell Biology, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Steins
authors.affiliation: University Medical Center Utrecht, Wilhelmina Children's Hospital, Division of Pediatrics, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Pieter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dik
authors.affiliation: Utrecht University, Department of Chemistry, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Wally H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: University Medical Center Utrecht, Department of Cell Biology, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Stephin J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Vervoort
authors.affiliation: Medical School Hannover, Department of Plastic, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery, Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Reimers
authors.affiliation: Medical School Hannover, Department of Plastic, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery, Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Jörn W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Kuhbier
authors.affiliation: Medical School Hannover, Department of Plastic, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery, Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Vogt
authors.affiliation: University of Twente, MIRA Institute for Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine, Department of Developmental Bioengineering, Enschede, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Aart A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: van Apeldoorn
authors.affiliation: University Medical Center Utrecht, Wilhelmina Children's Hospital, Division of Pediatrics, Utrecht, The Netherlands.|University Medical Center Utrecht, Department of Cell Biology, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Paul J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Coffer
authors.affiliation: University Medical Center Utrecht, Department of Cell Biology, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Koen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schepers
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D008422:Materials Testing; D047011:Silk / Q000737:chemistry*; D013112:Spiders; D013526:Surgical Mesh; D001743:Urinary Bladder / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D019459:Urothelium / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D047011:Silk