Regeneration of Bladder Urothelium, Smooth Muscle, Blood Vessels and Nerves Into an Acellular Tissue Matrix

Abstract

We demonstrated the regeneration of urothelium, smooth muscle, blood vessels and nerves within a full thickness grafted acellular tissue matrix scaffold in the rat. The spatial orientation of these elements suggests that mesenchymal-epithelial interactions occur during phenotypic regeneration of the bladder. Urothelium appears to regulate the early forming smooth muscle. This in vivo model provides a suitable method to study cellular events during regeneration.