Molecular ultrastructure of the urothelial surface: insights from a combination of various microscopic techniques

The urothelium forms the blood-urine barrier, which depends on the complex organization of transmembrane proteins, uroplakins, in the apical plasma membrane of umbrella cells. Uroplakins compose 16 nm intramembrane particles, which are assembled into urothelial plaques. Here we present an integrated survey on the molecular ultrastructure of urothelial plaques in normal umbrella cells with advanced microscopic techniques. We analyzed the ultrastructure and performed measurements of urothelial plaques in the normal mouse urothelium. We used field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) on immunolabeled ultrathin sections (immuno-TEM), and freeze-fracture replicas (FRIL). We performed immunolabeling of uroplakins for scanning electron microscopy (immuno-FESEM). All microscopic techniques revealed a variability of urothelial plaque diameters ranging from 332 to 1179 nm. All immunolabeling techniques confirmed the presence of uroplakins in urothelial plaques. FRIL showed the association of uroplakins with 16 nm intramembrane particles and their organization into plaques. Using different microscopic techniques and applied qualitative and quantitative evaluation, new insights into the urothelial apical surface molecular ultrastructure have emerged and may hopefully provide a timely impulse for many ongoing studies. The combination of various microscopic techniques used in this study shows how these techniques complement one another. The described advantages and disadvantages of each technique should be considered for future studies of molecular and structural membrane specializations in other cells and tissues.