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Published on: June 22, 2013
Characterization of urine-derived stem cells obtained from upper urinary tract for use in cell-based urological
Shantaram Bharadwaj1, Guihua Liu, Yingai Shi
1Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27101, USA.
Background:
The goals of this study were to characterize urine-derived stem cells obtained from the upper urinary tract (uUSC), induce these cells to differentiate into urothelial and smooth muscle cells, and determine whether they could serve as a potential stem cell source for bladder tissue engineering.
Materials And Methods:
Urine samples were collected from five patients with normal upper urinary tracts during renal pyeloplasty. Cells were isolated from this urine and extensively expanded in vitro.
Results:
The mean population doubling of uUSC was 46.5±7.7. The uUSC expressed surface markers associated with mesenchymal stem cells and pericytes. These cells could differentiate into smooth muscle-like cells that expressed smooth muscle-specific gene transcripts and proteins, including α-smooth muscle actin, desmin, and myosin, when exposed to TGF-β1 and PDGF-BB. In a collagen lattice assay, these myogenic-differentiated uUSC displayed contractile function that was similar to that seen in native smooth muscle cells. Urothelial-differentiated uUSC expressed urothelial-specific genes and proteins such as uroplakin-Ia and -III, cytokeratin (CK)-7, and CK-13.
Conclusions:
uUSC possess expansion and differentiation (urothelial and myogenic) capabilities, and can potentially be used as an alternative cell source in bladder tissue engineering for patients needing cystoplasty.
