Bladder Cells

The bladder is a round, saclike organ that stores urine. Bladder has four layers, and the epithelium is the first layer that acts as inner lining of the bladder. The lamina propria is the next layer, which consists of connective tissue, muscle, and blood vessels. Wrapped around the lamina propria is a layer called muscularis propria or detrusor muscle consists of thick, smooth muscle bundles. Finally, the outer layer is perivesical soft tissue that is made up of fat, fibrous tissue and blood vessels.

Many diseases and conditions can originate in the bladder. The most common bladder problems in women are frequent urination and urinary leakage. Leakage and frequent urges are usually caused by the decreased capacity of the bladder and overactivity of the bladder. The most common bladder problems in men are frequent urination at nights and incomplete bladder emptying. This is usually due to prostate enlargement causing obstruction of bladder emptying.

Human Bladder Epithelial Cells

The bladder epithelium forms an effective multifactorial barrier to urine, toxic metabolites, and pathogens. In addition, the presence of aquaporins, urea transporters, and ion channels suggests that the bladder epithelium has all the necessary mechanisms to actively alter the urine composition. Therefore, this tissue may play an unappreciated but important role in the homeostasis of water, salt, and solute.

Human bladder epithelial cells are considered to be powerful tools in studying bladder epithelial development and the mechanisms of cancerogenesis, especially those related to urothelial carcinoma of the bladder, as well as the processes by which epithelial cells achieve and maintain their specialized plasma membrane domains, and how these functions are disrupted in disease.

Human Bladder Smooth Muscle Cells

Urinary bladder is a hollow organ composed of smooth muscle cells (SMCs). The relaxation and contraction of bladder smooth muscle allows the bladder to store and void urine. Phenotypic modulation of bladder SMCs and the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase are associated with various pathological conditions, including bladder dysfunction.

Studies have shown that bladder SMCs proliferation is a major contributing factor to the development and progression of a variety of diseases. As a result, understanding the changes in SMCs during the genesis and maintenance of disease is critical to the development of therapeutic approaches.

Although bladder cells can be easily obtained by bladder biopsy, they are not easily to expand in vitro, furthermore the cells obtained from older individuals have a reduced capability for proliferation. Therefore alternative cell sources are required for any meaningful urinary bladder-related researches, of which Creative Bioarray is a good choice.