Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 21, 2026

Assessing Urinary Tract Junction Obstruction Defects by Methylene Blue Dye Injection
Published on: October 12, 2017
[Gap junctions in the human urinary bladder]
Purpose:
Gap junctions are intercellular contacts important for the synchronization of muscle cell activity through electrical coupling. Since the role of gap junctions for the function of smooth bladder muscle is still a matter of debate, we investigated the occurrence of gap junctions and the gap junctional protein connexin (Cx) 45 in the detrusor of the nonobstructed stable human bladder.
Materials And Methods:
Detrusor biopsies from 6 patients aged 64 (55-72) years with stable nonobstructed bladders were investigated for the occurrence of gap junctions by electron microscopy, molecular biological techniques and immunohistochemistry.
Results:
Transmission electron microscopy and freeze fracture showed the presence of gap junction at plasma membranes of detrusor smooth muscle cells. By reverse transcriptase (RT) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and in situ hybridization, we found an expression of Cx45 in the detrusor. These data were confirmed by immunolocalization of Cx45 on smooth muscle cells.
Conclusions:
This study provides morphological as well as molecular biological and immunohistochemical evidence that bladder smooth muscle cells are electrically coupled.
More Related Videos
06:36A Decentralized (Ex Vivo) Murine Bladder Model with the Detrusor Muscle Removed for Direct Access to the Suburothelium during Bladder Filling
Published on: November 28, 2019
06:01Expression of Transgenes in Native Bladder Urothelium Using Adenovirus-Mediated Transduction
Published on: October 6, 2022
Related Concept Videos
Gap Junctions
Overview of Cell-Cell Junctions
Occluding or Tight Junctions
Tight...
Tight Junctions
Gap Junctions
Urinary Bladder
In males, the bladder is situated in front of the rectum, while in females, it is positioned anterior to the vagina and uterus. The bladder floor contains an inverted triangular area called the trigone, defined by the two ureteric...
Anatomy of the Genitourinary System II: Bladder and Urethra