Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 8, 2026
Evaluation of Biomaterials for Bladder Augmentation using Cystometric Analyses in Various Rodent Models
Published on: August 9, 2012
A comparison of engineered urinary bladder and intestinal smooth muscle for urinary bladder wall replacement in a
Jin-Yao Lai1, Pei-Yeh Chang, Jer-Nan Lin
1Department of Pediatric Surgery, Chang-Gung Children's Hospital, School of Medicine, Chang-Gung University, Kweishan, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan. jylai@cgmh.org.tw
Background/Purpose:
The small intestine is the most common resource for bladder augmentation. Little is known whether intestinal smooth muscle cells (SMCs) may be engineered into bladder tissue. We investigated the phenotypic and functional characteristics of engineered bladder and intestinal SMCs as bladder wall replacement in a rabbit model.
Methods:
One month after an initial 70% partial cystectomy, 3 autoaugmentation surgeries were performed, including traditional autoaugmentation (TA, n = 6), TA using engineered bladder SMCs (TA + B, n = 6), and TA using intestinal SMCs (TA + I, n = 6). All were followed up by bladder volume measurement and retrieved on the first, third, and sixth month. The grafts and the native bladder wall were evaluated with immunocytochemistry and electrical field stimulation (EFS). Statistical analysis was performed using analysis of variance.
Results:
Both the TA + I and TA + B groups showed significant and similar bladder capacity increment in all time points. The engineered muscle cells demonstrated the typical "contraction-relaxation" response to supramaximal EFS. There were no statistical differences in both the TA + I and TA + B groups in contractility force.
Conclusion:
Engineered SMCs derived from urinary bladder and small intestine could retain their phenotype after implantation in vivo. Both exhibited a similar degree of contractility to EFS. These results suggest that there are no phenotypic or functional differences between muscle cells obtained from the 2 different organs. Both have the potential to be engineered into normal bladder tissues.
