Cystitis: From Urothelial Cell Biology to Clinical Applications
Figure 1
Normal mouse urinary bladder with terminally differentiated umbrella cells in the superficial layer of the urothelium. (a) Immunolabelling on paraffin section shows strong expression of uroplakins in umbrella cells (dark brown), weaker expression in intermediate cells (light brown), and negative basal cells that lie on the basal lamina (arrows). (b) Immunolabelling on ultrathin section demonstrates uroplakins (12 nm colloidal gold particles, black) in the membranes of fusiform vesicles (asterisks) and in the apical plasma membrane facing bladder lumen (L). (c) Scanning electron microscopy of the umbrella cell shows that its apical plasma membrane is covered with urothelial plaques (grey) interconnected by hinges (white). One such plaque and hinge region is encircled. Scale bars (a) = 50 , (b) = 1 , and (c) = 10 .
